Barcelona go 10 points clear in Spain; Milan beat sorry Juve in Turin

Spanish champions Barcelona continued their relentless pace at the top of La Liga with a 1-0 home win over Real Zaragoza Saturday night.

It was their third league win in eight days and took them 10 points clear of arch-rivals Real Madrid, who play at Racing Santander Sunday.

Mali international midfielder Seydou Keita scored the only goal in the Nou Camp shortly before halftime, set up by Lionel Messi.

With Barca looking to overcome a 2-1 deficit in the home leg of their Champions League last 16 tie to Arsenal in three days time, coach Pep Guardiola rested Spanish stars David Villa and Andres Iniesta, giving 31-year-old Keita and Bojan Krkic a rare starting chance.

Zaragoza worked hard to keep Barcelona at bay and succeeded until two minutes before the break as Messi worked his way to the touchline before crossing for Keita to score his second league goal of the season.

Zaragoza, two points above the relegation zone, almost equalized early in the second half with Bertolo getting the better of Gerard Pique but his curling effort went just wide.

Pique had a header stopped on the line before Victor Valdes in the away goal denied Florent Sinama Pongolle with an outstretched leg.

Substitute Villa wasted a golden opportunity to make it 2-0 but the hosts were content to play out time.

Earlier Saturday, Spain winger Pablo Hernandez scored twice as Valencia came from behind to win 2-1 at Real Mallorca to move four points clear of fourth-placed Villarreal in the battle for Champions League spots.

In Serie A, AC Milan continue to set the pace and increased their lead to eight points with a 1-0 win over Juventus in Turin Saturday night.

Gennaro Gattuso scored the winning goal after 68 minutes, firing under Juve keeper Gianluigi Buffon for Milan's second vital win in a week, having accounted for fellow title challengers Napoli 3-0 on Monday.

It was a rare goal for midfielder Gattuso, who is suspended for Wednesday's Champions League clash against Tottenham after his antics in the 1-0 defeat to the English Premier League side in the first leg.

But it was Juve's third defeat in the row and they have slipped to seventh, seven points of the Champions League spots.

Milan should have been ahead before Gattuso's goal as Zlatan Ibrahimovic threatened, but it was the Swedish striker who set him up, chesting down a long ball into his path.

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