Watch Eto'o strike twice and Gudjohnsen seal the hopes of Valencia.


Great goals and great football from Barca's great stars:

Disturbing news for the Blaugrana as left footed dynamite, Lionel Messi is out of el clasico against Real Madrid.


The FC Barcelona medical team, led by Doctor Ricardo pruna, have confirmed that Lionel Messi has strained the femoral bicep in his left leg. This implies the Argentine will be out for at least three weeks and could stay pout up to a fourth.


Messi was injured while sprinting toward the ball in the 42nd minute of the match against Valencia and promptly knew something had gone wrong with his leg as he signalled to the Barca bench to replace him. The magician was immediately replaced by Giovani dos Santos, another left-footed wonder who will have to fill the gap to be left by Messi against Real Madrid next week.

Returnee goal god Eto'o was star of the show as the Blaugrana re-opened their away record fine performance.


It would have been easily forgiven if someone walked by and thought the Valencia - Barca match was being played at the Camp Nou. FC Barcelona dominated the game from start to finish, despite playing at the Mestalla. Nothing showed the visitors were being hosted by an overpowered hosts, as Barca signalled their intentions early with Messi setting up Eto'o in the 4th minute, but the ball rolled away. Messi returned with another assist to Eto'o in the 13th minute, this time with the Cameroonian annexed by two Valencia defenders. Eto'o wizzled his way through the two hapeless defenders before blasting a stunning left footer across the area and staright into keeper Canizares' net for the first goal of the match.


Same Eto'o was not yet done, niether was Messi with the assists, as the youthful Argentine magician supplied Eto'o with another perfect pass in the 27th minute for Eto'o to finish of with a right footer this time. It was 2-0 to Barca.


Valencia made fringe efforts to get back into the game, but looked like they had already given up as Barca rained attacks on the hosts. The first half ended 2-0 to Barca.


Any hopes of a return by Valencia was sealed after Giovani dos Santos, who had replaced the injured Messi, raced down toward the Valencia goal in a 62nd minute break that left Giovani facing the troubled Valencia keeper. The young Mexican unselfishly passed the ball across to unrushing Gudjohnsen who slotted in the ball for the thrid goal of the night.


Dos santos missed two great chances, one saved by a superhuman effort from Canizares, and the second knocked out of the goal line by the hand of a Valencia defender. Substitute Bojan Krkic also came close to scoring.


Barca deserved the win, holding possession for 65% of the total time and having 11 shots on target to just 2 by Valencia.


The stage is now set for the El Clasico with Real Madrid at the Camp Nou, in a Christmas taster which victory will be the best Christmas present to Barca's eager fans.

Barca's technical guru, Frank Rijkaard is confident of his new look squad.


With the former feared Valencia now struggling to find their feet in the new season, Barca look set to trample upon the fellow La Liga team, but that won't be an easy task to achieve for two reasons. First is Valencia's coach, Ronald Koeman, is a man who knows more than necessary about coach Rijkaard and the Barca coach's tactics, both having played together for the Dutch national team and both being great friends who have shared a lot in common over the years. Secondly, the match will also be played in Mestalla and not Camp Nou. Barca's away record and form will be called into question once again. A good result is needed in order to have a psych edge against Real Madrid next weekend. Rijkaard is well aware of all these and says:

The game against Valencia is an important game. A good result will give us confidence ahead of the next match. We have to start the game well and play strong. We need to have the right mentality. Valencia is a famous team and they will be highly motivated.

Read more below:


Valencia - FC Barcelona: Coach Rijkaard's Pre-Match Comments.

Despite their 0-1 deafeat at La Romareda against Real Zaragoza on Saturday night, the Blaugrana stay top of La Liga. Barca is still 1 point ahead of Sevilla, who disappointed in their 0-0 draw at home to Racing Santander on Sunday afternoon. Real Madrid won their home match at Bernabeu 2-0 against Osasuna and closed the gap to Sevilla and Champions FC Barcelona. The Merengues are now only 1 point behind Sevilla and 2 points behind Barca.
Valencia was defeated by Atletico Bilbao (0-1) and is still 6 points behind the leaders but has been overtaken by Real Zaragoza (6 points behind).



The next 4 weeks will be crucial, who will stay in the race for the title. Sevilla, Real Madrid and Valencia all play each other. The pressure is high, because no team can afford a drop points.