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Xavi helps Barcelona sink Villarreal

Sat 1st, May 2010

Villarreal, Spain (Sports Network) - Xavi had a goal and two assists in the first half, and Barcelona beat Villarreal 4-1 on Saturday to open a four-point cushion atop La Liga.

Xavi assisted on Lio Messi's 28th goal of the season in the 19th, scored off a free kick in the 34th, and assisted on Bojan Krkic's goal in the 42nd. Messi added his 29th of the La Liga campaign in the second half.

Barcelona extended its lead over Real Madrid, which hosts Osasuna on Sunday.

Barca, eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday, bounced back against Villarreal to leave the Yellow Submarines' European hopes in doubt. Villarreal is sixth and holds a Europa League berth, but Getafe and Athletic Bilbao are both within two points.

Barcelona edged Inter Milan on Wednesday, but the 1-0 result was not enough to overturn a 3-1 loss in the first match in Italy. Inter plays Bayern Munich on May 22 in the Champions League final.

Messi, who was shut out in the semifinal series, returned to form in La Liga. He settled a Xavi pass on the left side of the area and spun at the same time, then fired toward the right. The ball took a slight deflection off Villarreal defender Diego Godin and sneaked inside Diego Lopez's near post.

Xavi doubled the lead when he fired a free kick over the wall and into the top right, out of the reach of a diving Lopez.

Krkic finished Xavi's second assist with a nice run down the middle, then shot back to the far post to pick out the bottom left.

Villarreal scored its lone goal in the 67th when Nilmar put Joseba Llorente through, and he fired to the bottom left to beat Victor Valdes.

Messi added his second in the 88th after Dani Alves slid a pass from the right to the middle of the box, and the Argentine regrouped after a poor first touch to chip over a sliding Lopez from close range.

Valencia tightened its grip on third with a 2-0 victory over Espanyol. Nikola Zigic scored both goals in the second half for Valencia, which leads Mallorca by nine points.

Valladolid tied seventh-place Getafe 0-0 to enter the final three matches two points shy of safety. Getafe wasted a chance to move into sixth.

Last-place Xerez got a 90th-minute goal from Mario Bermejo to edge Almeria 2-1 but is still five points from climbing out of the drop zone. Almeria is three points above the bottom three.

Tenerife got goals from Roman and Ayoze to edge Racing 2-1 and it pulled level with Malaga on points for 17th, although both clubs remain in danger of being relegated. Racing is just one point in front of Tenerife and Malaga.

Malaga's Felipe Caicedo scored in the 79th in a 1-1 tie against Sporting Gijon that kept the club out of the bottom three on goal differential. Gijon is just three points above the bottom three.

Adrian Colunga scored early in the second half as Real Zaragoza beat Deportivo 1-0 to stay two points above the drop zone. Deportivo is comfortably in the top half of the standings.

Also Sunday, Sevilla hosts Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao hosts Mallorca.

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