Spanish and Italian Leagues/Barcelona 1 Villareal 0: Samuel Eto'o struck his 24th goal of the season to give Barcelona a 1-0 win over Villarreal last night that took them closer to retaining the Spanish La Liga title.
The Cameroon striker turned sharply on the edge of the area and fired low past Villarreal goalkeeper Mariano Barbosa in the 11th minute at Camp Nou to earn his side a deserved victory over their fellow Champions League semi-finalists.
The win sent Barca 14 points clear of Valencia and Real Madrid at the top of the table with five games left, although the Catalan side's two rivals have yet to play this weekend.
Valencia host King's Cup winners Espanyol tomorrow, while Real Madrid travel to the south of the city to meet modest neighbours Getafe.
Barcelona striker Henrik Larsson left the pitch with a thigh injury just nine minutes into the game and the injury makes him a doubt for Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first leg against AC Milan.
The Sweden international limped off clasping the back of his left leg after sprinting for the ball in one of the first attacks of the game. Larsson's replacement, Santi Ezquerro, left the pitch 25 minutes later when he suffered an injury to his right knee after a challenge from Villarreal defender Juan Manuel Pena.
League leaders Barca are already without Argentine forward Lionel Messi, who is expected to be out for at least another three weeks with a thigh-muscle tear.
AC Milan 1 Inter Milan 0
AC Milan celebrated a 1-0 derby win over their city rivals in Serie A last night, thanks to a 70th-minute strike by Georgian defender Kakha Kaladze.
The victory takes Milan within four points of Juventus, who visit Cagliari today, while third-placed Inter are now five points adrift of Milan. There are four rounds of matches to be played after this weekend's fixtures.
"We have extended our lead over Inter and need to keep that in the coming games," said Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti.
"Now we are thinking only about Tuesday's game with Barcelona," he added, referring to the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the San Siro.
Milan's Alberto Gilardino and Inter's Luis Figo missed good chances as they sent headers wide, but neither team looked sharp going forward in a rather flat game.
The decisive goal came when Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf looped in a high cross from the left and, with the Inter defence stationary, Kaladze chested the ball down and blasted past Julio Cesar.
Despite a 74,000 crowd, there was a subdued atmosphere in the San Siro, largely due to a boycott by Inter fans who left their section of the north stand almost empty.
The "ultras" were protesting against a disappointing season and in place of the colourful flags that normally fill their sector, banners criticising the team were displayed on empty seating.
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