MADRID — Unbeaten La Liga leaders Barcelona ended 2012 on a high when Lionel Messi struck his 91st goal of the year in a 3-1 win at Real Valladolid while their arch-rivals Real Madrid slumped to a 3-2 defeat at Malaga.
Report by Reuters
It was the perfect tonic for Barça following the news that coach Tito Vilanova had to have throat surgery last Thursday.
The 44-year-old was released from hospital earlier on Saturday and was absent from Valladolid’s Jose Zorrilla Stadium as Barça racked up a record 16th win in 17 games this season.
Real’s woes deepened after the stuttering champions suffered a second consecutive setback following last weekend’s 2-2 draw at home to Espanyol.
Coach Jose Mourinho sprung a surprise by leaving captain and goalkeeper Iker Casillas on the bench and the defeat left Real 16 points adrift of Barça.
They are seven behind second-placed Atletico Madrid, who won 1-0 at home to Celta Vigo on Friday, and their lead over Malaga in fourth was cut to two points.
Mourinho told a post-match news conference Real were “facing an insurmountable gap”, but dismissed a question about whether he feared for his job.
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“Football is football, why should I fear for my job?” the Portuguese said.
“We coaches know perfectly well that football has no memory. The titles you have won don’t count. The work you have done doesn’t count.
“Losing always hurts, but it hurts me more when you don’t give what you are able to give.
“In the brief chat I had with the players I told them they can go home sad at losing, but in the knowledge that they did their job to the best of their ability.”
Barça have 49 points from 17 matches, a record for this stage of a La Liga campaign, and the only match they failed to win was a 2-2 draw at home to Real in October.
Atletico, resurgent under Argentine coach Diego Simeone, have 40, with Real on 33 and Malaga, who are coached by Mourinho’s predecessor at Real, Manuel Pellegrini, on 31.
