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Messi, Villa sink Rayo Vallecano
David Villa expressed his delight at returning to top form as he scored and set-up two goals for Lionel Messi as Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 to restore their 13-point lead at the top of La Liga.
David Villa expressed his delight at returning to top form as he scored and set-up two goals for Lionel Messi as Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 3-1 to restore their 13-point lead at the top of La Liga.
“I am happy to help, to play and to score, which is what I have to do because at the end of the day I am a striker,” he said. “I want to continue like this and will give everything in every game so I can continue to play.”
There was some bad news for the hosts as Adriano then limped off with a hamstring injury and is expected to miss the Champio-ns League quarter-final with PSG.
Chelsea third
London: Frank Lampard scored his 200th Chelsea goal as his side beat West Ham United 2-0 on Sunday to move within four points of second-place Manchester City.
Lampard now stands only two goals behind Bobby Tambling in the list of Chelsea’s all-time top goal-scorers.
Roma win, Lazio lose
Milan: Francesco Totti scored Roma's second, and his 226th in Serie A, to help his side to a 2-0 home win over Parma and a jump up two places to sixth and ahead of depleted city rivals Lazio, who lost 0-1 to Torino.
Totti's goal means he is alone in second place in the all-time list of scorers in Serie A, one ahead of retired AC Milan great Gunnar Nordahl (225) but still 48 short of Silvio Piola.
Racism case vs Inter
Nyon: UEFA has opened up a disciplinary case against Inter Milan for fan racism and other charges stemming from last week's Euro-pa League match with Tottenham.
The game was marred by apparent racist abuse from Inter fans directed at Emmanuel Adebayor. UEFA is also accusing Inter of “insufficient organisation” for the match at the San Siro, and “throwing of missiles and/or fireworks.”
UEFA's control and disciplinary body will deal with the case on April 19.
Rio out of squad
London: England coach Roy Hodg-son says defender Rio Ferdinand has pulled out of the squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Monten-egro because he is unable to follow his “pre-planned training and medical program” on national-team duty.
Ferdinand, who has been replaced by Steven Caulker, says he wants to continue playing for England and will be available for future matches this year.
