Barca win

Two goals in as many minutes mid-way through the second-half put Barcelona on the road to victory against Recreativo after a nervy first-half.

A fantastically placed header by Gabriel Milito from a Xavi corner in the 63rd minute saw the Camp Nou explode with relief and two minutes later 17-year-old sensation Bojan Krkic was set up by Thierry Henry for a second less than five minutes after coming on.

The superb Lionel Messi then put the icing on the cake by placing home a penalty after he himself was fouled in the box 10 minutes from time.

Barcelona played great stuff in the match once they were in front, but they went in at the break with boos and whistles ringing in their ears.

Without Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o they lacked a cutting edge in the opening period with Messi being the only player who was really bringing a spark to proceedings.

Recreativo also looked like they could nick something on the break, but after the first two goals in quick succession the game was over as a contest.

Real Madrid surrendered the lead and had Guti sent off in a 1-1 draw at Real Murcia.

In a bad-tempered game there were eight yellow cards, and Guti saw a straight red for kicking out at Cesar Arzo near the end.

Real Madrid got off to a fantastic start as they opened the scoring after just nine minutes.

It was a sublime opener too. Gago played the ball into the box for Guti, the Spanish midfielder side-footed a superb first-time ball across the box to Robinho at the back post with the Brazilian then heading home despite Antonio Notario's best efforts to keep it out.

Soon after the re-start though, Murica were level, as Enrique de Lucas dived to produce a bullet of a header from a Francisco Pena corner.

Questions will be asked about Guti's marking on the corner, while Fabio Cannavaro was off receiving treatment at the time of the goal.

In a lively second-half both sides pressed for a winner but fouls were far outnumbering chances.

However, when Real Madrid went down to 10 men, Liga newcomers Murcia had chances to win it, with Swedish substitute Henok Goitom just putting an effort wide in the last minute after a lovely one-two with Jose Maria Movilla.

Real Mallorca surprised Sevilla in the Sanchez Pizjuan winning 2-1 thanks to superb first-half goals from Argentine Ariel Ibagaza and Fernando Varela.

Sevilla pulled one back after the break from the head of Frederic Kanoute, but they were unable to complete the comeback despite Mallorca finishing with 10 men.

Mallorca moved up to eighth with 19 points, while Sevilla stayed 10th with 15.