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MADRID (AFP) – Barcelona captain Carles Puyol admitted Saturday's 2-0 win over Real Madrid in 'El Clasico' at Camp Nou was a major step in the title race but said there was no way reigning champions Real would throw in the towel despite being 12 points adrift of the leaders.

AFP – FC Barcelona's Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o celebrates his goal during the Liga football match against …

Barcelona scored twice in the final seven minutes in a sensational finale with Samuel Eto'o netting on 83 minutes before Lionel Messi scored with a 91st minute chip to secure a first Clasico win since November 2005.

Sevilla and Valencia are now Barca's closest rivals lying eight points behind them in the standings with Villarreal and Real, last season's top two, both struggling.

"We worked very hard and that drained us, but the most important thing is the three points," said Puyol. "The gap of 12 points is important, but Madrid would never consider giving up.

"The hype is something that we cannot control. We were not that bad before and we are not that great now, everyone has to look for the middle ground."

Spanish international Puyol helped set up the opener for Eto'o and revealed it was a training ground move.

"We practiced the move for Eto'o's goal with me arriving to meet the cross and look what happened!" enthused Puyol.

Eto'o, who had missed a penalty 13 minutes earlier, celebrated by tearing off his shirt and running to the touchline.

Messi then sealed the game with a brilliant chip that Fabio Cannavaro could not clear off the line and wild celebrations followed.

"Barcelona are already celebrating the league title but for us the important thing is to beat Valencia and get to January in good shape," said irritated Real defender Michel Salgado.

"There were a lot of jokes about how many goals Barcelona were going to put past us but we had our chances."

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola dismissed Salgado's suggestions that his side were already celebrating the title pointing out that there were other teams in the title race besides Real.

"Only 15 games have been played and there are a lot of other teams around us to play, like Villarreal and Valencia," said Guardiola.

"In January we will play in three competitions again and that will take a lot out of the side."

Guardiola also took a swipe at Real for their harsh treatment of Argentine Messi who was fouled throughout the match.

"I have no doubt that forms part of the game plan," Guardiola seethed. "There were three consecutive fouls on him that could have done a lot of damage. I was worried that the game was going to carry on like that."

Real coach Juande Ramos, who replaced Bernd Schuster four days ago, said Messi's habit of running with the ball accounted for the fouls rather than a malicious tactic.

"Messi will always play with the ball at his feet and is therefore more likely to get injured," said Ramos. "There was no form of aggressiveness in this match."

Winning a third consecutive title looks a big ask with Ramos admitting Barcelona's lead would take some overhauling.

"It's a substantial lead, but there is still a lot of games to be played and it depends a lot on how others teams do," declared the former Sevilla coach.

"Barcelona are in excellent form, but let's see what happens in the second half of the season when there is also the Champions League to be played."

Both Barcelona and Real have qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League and await the draw on December 19.

MADRID (AFP) – Juande Ramos may be wielding a new broom at Real Madrid but it was one of the old guard who starred as the nine-times champions saw off Zenit St Petersburg in their final Champions League Group H game on Wednesday.

Veteran forward and three-time champion Raul bagged a brace to sandwich a goal by Arjen Robben in a 3-0 win over the outclassed Russians and cement the runners-up spot behind Juventus.

AFP – Real Madrid's Raul Gonzalez celebrates scoring against Zenith San Petersburg during their Champions

Raul's goals made him the competition's all-time top scorer with 66 goals ahead of AC Milan's Filippo Inzaghi and gave a fillip to a side whose confidence has been sagging in recent weeks.

Ramos, taking charge of the Bernabeu bench for the first time since replacing the sacked Bernd Schuster the previous day, made one change from the side which lost 4-3 to his old club Sevilla at the weekend by putting former Liverpool hero Jerzy Dudek in goal in place of Iker Casillas.

The man sacked by Tottenham in October then sat back to allow the rest of the side to show what they are made of.

"It's a good result, which boosts team morale. I really liked the players' attitude," said Ramos.

Sporting director Pedja Mijatovic, the power behind the Bernabeu throne, noted that "now we are a little calmer. We saw something different with the change of coach."

Real had already qualified along with group rivals Juventus - who got the better of them in both their autumn meetings - ahead of Wednesday's game.

But the team had a point to prove after Schuster was shown the door following their weekend loss to Sevilla which left the club fifth in La Liga, nine points adrift of Barcelona.

Schuster's year in charge ended after he caused an outcry by saying Real could not hope to beat Barca at the Nou Camp next weekend.

Ramos's defensive namesake Sergio Ramos meanwhile insisted he did not share Schuster's pessimism.

"Tonight we controlled the ball well and kept a clean sheet - we can win at the Nou Camp," he told Canal Plus Espagne.

Raul notched the opener on 24 minutes, firing past keeper Vyacheslav Malafeev from the edge of the six-yard box following a Rafael van der Vaart cross.

Five minutes after the restart Raul instigated a fine move as he sent Arjen Robben away to make it 2-0.

And in the 58th minute Robben repaid the compliment with the pass from which Raul, long since discarded by the Spanish national side, made it 3-0. Two minutes later, the crowd were on their feet to salute Raul as he gave way to Javier Saviola.

According to persistent media reports Ramos wants to prise away playmaker Andrei Arshavin from Zenit in the January transfer window but on this evidence the man he also wanted at White Hart Lane would not necessarily add to the mix.

However, the Russian could still provide some fresh impetus given Real's current injury crisis.

Arshavin earlier told British daily The Sun: 'I can confirm that officials from Zenit have begun preliminary negotiations with Real Madrid about my transfer."

MADRID (AFP) – Real Madrid trail Barcelona by nine points going into next Saturday's 'El Clasico' at Camp Nou after the double champions fell to a 4-3 home defeat to Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Real came from 3-1 down to level at 3-3 but Renato headed the winner four minutes from time to sink ten-man Real who had Arjen Robben sent off on 77 minutes. AFP – Sevilla's Brazilian midfielder Renato (R) celebrates his goal against Real Madrid with teammate Spanish …

Real coach Bernd Schuster knows defeat in Barcelona would leave his team a staggering 12 points behind their arch-rivals and Dutch winger Robben will now miss the Barcelona clash through suspension as will Brazilian defender Marcelo.

"There is no question that Barcelona are on fire at the moment," said Schuster. "I can't talk of winning at Camp Nou at the moment. We just have to think about making a game of it.

"Things didn't go our way tonight but not everything is bad luck. Their first two goals were bad marking from set-pieces."

Real got off to a nightmare start conceding after just three minutes when the usually reliable Iker Casillas flapped at a cross and Adriano was at the backpost to accept the Christmas gift bundling the ball home.

Captain Raul equalised on 18 minutes with a well-timed glancing header from a precise Guti cross.

Real looked threatening but their defence looked frail and the lanky Koffi Ndri Romaric headed in a corner three minutes after the equaliser to make it 2-1.

Even though Sevilla, who were trounced 3-0 by Barcelona in their last match, were without their top striker Luis Fabiano through suspension, they were causing untold problems and struck again on 38 minutes.

Renato saw his shot blocked and the ball fell to Frederic Kanoute who showed a cool head to stroke the ball into the corner.

The home fans, donning rain coats to combat the torrential rain in Madrid, jeered their side at the interval.

Schuster took off Rafael van der Vaart for compatriot Roysten Drenthe at half-time to try and give the team more width.

Higuain scored a brilliant individual goal - his 10th of the season - rifling in a shot on 66 minutes to get his team back in the game and Gago headed in the equaliser two minutes later after some slack marking.

But Renato was wide open to score the winner on 84 minutes to inflict Real's first league home defeat since March 23 when they lost 3-2 to Valencia.

Sevilla go above Real into fourth spot and are level on points with third-placed Valencia.

"We believe in ourselves and that we can win at any ground," said Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez. "Real are good at coming from behind and they showed that. It is not easy to win at the Bernabeu so we are happy."

Barcelona crushed title rivals Valencia 4-0 at Camp Nou on Saturday and now sit six points clear of Villarreal and nine ahead of Real.

Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick as Barca extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to 20 games and they have seven points more than at the same stage last season.

Espanyol coach Jose Manuel Esnal, better known as 'Mane', ended a run of four straight league defeats with a 1-1 draw at Real Betis but the club are still in the bottom three.

Mane, best remembered for guiding tiny Alaves to the 2001 UEFA Cup final where they lost to Liverpool, replaced Bartolome Marquez last weekend after Espanyol failed to collect a point from their last four matches.

Earlier, Recreativo Huelva registered only their second win of the season to move off the bottom with a 3-2 win over Real Mallorca.

Osasuna replace Recre at the bottom and only had themselves to blame after throwing away a 3-0 lead against Valladolid who fought back to level at 3-3.

Numancia, the only team to beat Barcelona in the league this season, surged out of the bottom three with a 2-1 home win over Almeria.