Barca move 12 clear as Cristiano warms up for Champions League with hat-trick

 　　MADRID, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona enjoyed an early kick off and saw their lead at the top of Spain's BBVA Primera Liga extend to 12 points during the 23rd round of matches in Spain this weekend.

　　Barca took to the pitch before their midday kick off at home to Getafe on Sunday carrying a banner wishing a happy Chinese new year, but at the end of the game it was the Catalans who were celebrating as goals from Alexis Sanchez, Leo Messi (scoring in his 13th consecutive¹ league game), David Villa², Christian³ Tello, Andres Iniesta and Gerard Pique⁴ gave them a convincing 6-1 win in a game broadcast live on primetime in Asia.

　　Barca's day got a lot better with the last match of the day as Rayo Vallecano's incredible continued with a 2-1 win at home to second place Atletico Madrid.

　　Lass and Leo Baptistao scored early goal for Rayo and that was enough to decide an exciting south Madrid derby.

　　The win lifts Rayo to fifth in the table, while Atletico drop back to 12 points behind Barcelona with Falcao's 94th minute goal too late to be a mere⁵ anecdote⁶..

　　Cristiano Ronaldo warmed up for his reencounter with former club, Manchester United in the Champions League next week with a hat-trick as Real Madrid thrashed Sevilla 4-1.

　　Karim Benzema opened the scoring as Sevilla gave an example of how not to defend against a side that may be 16 points behind Barca, but which is still lethal⁷ on the break.

　　Malaga's attacking midfielder Isco made his first appearance for Spain during the week and showed why he is rated as one of the most promising⁸ young players in the country with two goals which saw his side win 2-1 to a Levante side which had taken the lead through a Jose Barkero penalty.

　　Real Sociedad are also knocking on the door of Europe after a 2-1 win away to Zaragoza who have now lost 7 of 11 home games this season. Antoine Griezmann and Imanol Agirretxe scored for the Basque's while Apono scored a penalty for a dreadful Zaragoza side with virtually the last kick of the game.

　　Valencia's recovery continued at the expense of struggling Celta Vigo with Nelson Valdez's 93rd minute header sending the 3 points back with Ernesto Valverde's side.

　　Espanyol are also taking off under Javier Aguirre as shown by a 4-0 win away to Athletic⁹ Club Bilbao.

　　Hector Moreno opened the scoring with Joan Verdu, Victor Sanchez and Christian Stauni scoring further goals in the second half.

　　Meanwhile Deportivo la Coruna look doomed¹⁰ to relegation¹¹ after a horrible 3-0 home defeat to Granada, who have taken 6 points from two games since Lucas Alcaraz took over as coach.

　　Finally Gregorio Manzano saw a late header from Pedro Geromel save a point against Osasuna as he cancelled out Lolo's opener for the visitors.

　　The round of matches ends on Monday when Betis entertain Valladolid.

1 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

2 villa   

n.别墅，城郊小屋

参考例句：

• We rented a villa in France for the summer holidays.我们在法国租了一幢别墅消夏。
• We are quartered in a beautiful villa.我们住在一栋漂亮的别墅里。

3 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

4 pique   

v.伤害…的自尊心，使生气 n.不满，生气

参考例句：

• She went off in a fit of pique.她一赌气就走了。
• Tom finished the sentence with an air of pique.汤姆有些生气地说完这句话。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

7 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

10 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

11 relegation   

n.驱逐，贬黜；降级

参考例句：

• Liaoning team lost this game, is still deeply avoid relegation zone. 辽宁队本场失利后，仍然深陷保级区。 来自互联网
• In society, relegation is based on your income. 社会上的规类是以你的收入为基准。 来自互联网