MADRID: Barcelona blitzed Real Sociedad 5-0 Sunday to remain Spanish leader thanks to a ninth straight victory, after Real Madrid had applied some pressure earlier with a 3-1 win over Zaragoza. David Villa, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and substitute Bojan Krkic were the scorers as Barcelona put on an exhibition of the quick-touch football that guided it to the last two league titles. Messi threaded the ball to Pedro Rodriguez in the ninth minute and Villa was alone inside the box to redirect the centering pass into the roof of goal for his ninth of the season. Iniesta charged into the area in the 33rd, laying off to Pedro who returned it for the Spain midfielder to beat Claudio Bravo with a low shot inside the near post while never breaking stride. Sociedad looked like just another Camp Nou spectator at times as Xavi Hernandez, Messi and Iniesta - all shortlisted for the world player of the year award - orchestrated attack after attack, with Villa and Pedro often denied by Bravo or scrambling defenders. Barcelona leads with 40 points from 15 games. Mesut Oezil, Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria scored for Madrid to stay two points behind. Earlier, Fernando Llorente and David Lopez scored second-half goals as Athletic Bilbao rallied to beat Espanyol 2-1 and deny it the chance to move into third place. Espanyol stayed on 28 points - two behind third-place Villarreal - while Athletic joined Sociedad in eighth with 22 points. Also, David Trezeguet led Hercules' own second-half rally as the French striker scored the first of four goals over a 15-minute span in a 4-1 win over Malaga. Also, Sporting Gijon rallied to draw against Levante 1-1 and Oscar Serrano returned from a seven-month knee injury layoff to score two minutes into injury time as Racing Santander won 1-0 at Mallorca. Milan pulls away In Rome, AC Milan went six points clear at the top of Serie A Sunday after winning for the 10th time in 12 league games with a 3-0 success at Bologna, while Lazio slumped to a last-gasp 2-1 defeat at Juventus. Goals from Kevin-Prince Boateng, Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic eased Milan to a comfortable victory which also guarantees top spot in a week's time when Serie A shuts down for its winter break. Ibrahimovic said the 12.30 kick-off time had presented a new challenge. In Turin, Milos Krasic scored a stunning individual winner with the last kick of the game to sink Lazio as Juventus leapt over the Rome side and into second place. Giorgio Chiellini gave Juve the lead only for Mauro Zarate to equalize. Lazio dropped to fourth on the same number of points with Napoli third following its 1-0 win at Genoa Saturday. AS Roma's inconsistent season continued with an unconvincing 1-0 win at home to Bari. Also Sunday, it was; Brescia 1, Sampdoria 0; Cagliari 3, Catania 0; Lecce 3, Chievo Verona 2.
