0 victory over Racing Santander to stay top of the Spanish league Saturday. Andres Iniesta, Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez posted first-half goals while Thiago scored on his debut as Barcelona opened up a five-point overnight lead over Real Madrid, which plays Villarreal Sunday. Iniesta opened the scoring at Camp Nou after seven minutes by beating Fabio Coltorti to a long pass the defense failed to clear, with the midfielder stabbing the looping ball around Racing's goalkeeper. Barcelona dominated after the great start with Coltorti saving dangerous shots from Lionel Messi and Bojan Krkic before Racing managed its first chance in the 24th. But Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes beat the streaking Francisco “Xisco” Jimenez to Sergio Canales' flick-on to snatch away the chance. Coltorti could only watch Henry's free kick go into goal in the 29th after the striker's low shot sneaked through the defensive wall. It was the third league goal and first since Dec. 2 for Henry, who was playing for the first time in four games. Marquez made it 3-0 with a near identical free kick five minutes later, except the defender curled his shot over the wall inside the left post, past the outstretched Coltorti. Racing had a goal waived away in the 36th as Xisco guided Canales' roller into goal, although it was questionable whether the striker was in an offside position. Krkic and Messi exchanged passes to set each other up for chances before halftime, while Barcelona continued to set the pace after the break as Coltorti dove to cover Iniesta's clear curler just after the hour mark. Messi slipped clear along the goal line to find Thiago – called up with the Spanish champions missing several players to injury – in the 84th and the youth team player's shot deflected off a Santander foot past Coltorti. Going into Tuesday's Champions League match at Stuttgart, Barcelona recovered from its first league defeat of the season while playing without a number of injured players, including Xavi Hernandez and Daniel Alves. Earlier, Deportivo La Coruna scored early twice but had to hold on for a 2-1 victory against last-place Xerez. Sevilla and Mallorca were meeting in Saturday's late game. Barcelona has 58 points, Madrid 53, Valencia 43, Sevilla 39 and Mallorca 37. Inter draws 0-0 with Sampdoria Inter Milan managed to draw 0-0 against Sampdoria with nine men after defenders Walter Samuel and Ivan Cordoba were sent off in the first half in the Serie A Saturday. Sampdoria failed to capitalize on its numerical advantage even though it finished with 10 after striker Giampaolo Pazzini earned his second yellow card midway through the second half. Samuel Eto'o had the best chance of the match late in the second half in a one-on-one with Sampdoria goalkeeper Marco Storari but couldn't beat him. Inter leads with 55 points, eight more than second-placed AS Roma, which was playing Catania Sunday. Sampdoria moved into fourth place with 40 points. Earlier, Robert Acquafresca scored twice and Rodrigo Palacio once to give Genoa a 3-0 win over Udinese that lifted Genoa to seventh.
