Barcelona: Lionel Messi's double lifted Barcelona to a provisional lead over Real Madrid in the Spanish league with its 3-1 win against third-place Villarreal on Saturday.
David Villa scored Barcelona's 22nd-minute opener with a low strike from the left side of the penalty area after deftly avoiding a diving tackle by defender Carlos Marchena.
Four minutes later, Nilmar slalomed through the left side of the Barcelona defence and beat Victor Valdes with a left-foot crossing shot that ricocheted off the right post and into the net.
Messi regained the lead by chipping Diego Lopez from the right in the 59th after a precision combination with Pedro Rodriguez surrounded by the Villarreal defence and the Argentina forward recorded his 10th goal of the season — just one behind league leader Cristiano Ronaldo — by deflecting Rodriguez's cross in the 83rd.
Barcelona head coach Pep Guardiola said he was "very satisfied with the win" over a Villarreal that had "impressed" him.
Barcelona's 28 points lifted it two ahead of Real Madrid, which visits Sporting Gijon on Sunday. Villarreal, which had not lost since the first round, remained third with 23 points.
Andres Iniesta threatened to break down the Villarreal defence early on in an electric opening and Villa almost found Lopez's net in the 8th with a dipping volley.
Villarreal did not retreat and Giuseppe Rossi soon got behind the left side of the Barcelona defence but Eric Abidal recovered to cut off his progress.
Lopez made a great reflex save to keep Messi's header out minutes before Villa's sixth goal of the season set up by Iniesta.
In the 26th, Messi was whistled offside on a play that ended in a phantom goal by Rodriguez and seconds later Nilmar tallied his seventh goal of the season with Barcelona caught protesting the call.
"It's there in the images. What we have to do is train hard to be the best," said Carles Puyol, who reached his 500th game with Barcelona.
The equaliser pushed Villarreal forward with Rossi creating danger each time he touched the ball. Just after the half-hour mark, the Italian forward connected with Santiago Carzola inside the area for a shot that sailed high, and forced a diving stop from Valdes with a well-placed free kick.
Messi barely missed the top right corner of the Villarreal net with a curling free kick of his own before the break.
The frenetic pace continued into the second period but Messi's first goal allowed the Spanish champs to tighten up their defence till their star sealed the win.
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