The greatest soccer game ever

For those soccer fans who witnessed the Spanish League encounter between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Saturday, they have traveled to and touched the summit of sport (there can be no higher place). For those who missed out, they might just as well have made the trip to Heaven only to turn around at the Gate.

There should be no comparing -- and there is no comparison in this writer’s mind -- anything which has gone before in the 146 years of the game, to the events at the Bernabeu on Saturday, where the visitors netted six breathtaking goals in an eight-goal extravaganza.

I have been witness to the superstar Brazil teams of the 1970’s and 80’s, to French flair, and to the Liverpool sides under Shankly, Paisley and Fagan, to various forms of brilliance displayed by Ajax, the Dutch (in a 6-1 mauling of Yugoslavia), Italian and German national teams, and AC Milan and Manchester United, to name but a very few. Nothing from the aforementioned however touched the football displayed in the Spanish capital on Saturday night.

If one pass by either team went astray over the ninety minutes, it has long since been consigned to the nether regions of the mind. Instead there are memories of awesome goals, of course, but, more pertinently, of the most wonderfully intricate moves imaginable, where Toure, Puyol, Messi, Henry, Eto’o and Alves danced to the tunes called by Iniesta and Xavi.

Most observers were left dumbfounded for ninety incredible minutes, and even Spanish great and Real central striker Raul was moved to congratulate the winners:

"To suffer such a defeat as this at home, seeing how comfortable the other team is and how they are enjoying themselves, makes you feel helpless."

That’s not to say that the white-shirted team didn’t contribute. Gonzalo Higuain was at his brilliant best, as was Lassana Diarra, and scarcely has a Galactico goalkeeper performed better than Iker Casillas did on the night.

By comparison, the fare at the JJB Stadium or at Sunderland or even Liverpool just wasn’t up to the standard of what can only be described as -- take it from me-- the "greatest football game ever played".

And, when all is said and done, the Spanish champions elect will need to curtail their attacking ambitions considerably if they’re to even begin to contemplate victory at Chelsea in Wednesday’s Champions League semi-final (ESPN 2 at 2:45pm). A statement of the respective priorities of the teams involved perhaps?

ENGLAND

The Premier League title race was due for a twist of fate, or two, in the final weeks of the campaign, according to one or two experts. That ‘vaulted’ opinion appears to be slightly misguided after Manchester United took another step towards retaining their crown with to a 2-0 win at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Ryan Giggs drilled home a rather fortunate opener after 25 minutes (the ball touching two United hands in the build up), and Park Ji-Sung ripped a left foot shot into the bottom corner following Wayne Rooney's reverse pass six minutes after the break.

United, who left out Cristiano Ronaldo, Edwin van der Sar, Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and Anderson ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League semi-final decider at Arsenal, were six points clear of Liverpool on Saturday evening, the Merseysiders entertaining Newcastle at Anfield on Sunday.

Boro stay three points ahead of bottom side West Brom, though, as Jermaine Jenas' 43-minute curler saw the Baggies go down 1-0 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane. Substitute Jermain Defoe looked to have added a second after the break, but it was harshly disallowed for offside.

Chelsea got off to a flying start against Fulham at Stamford Bridge, which set them up for a 3-1 win over their west London rivals.

Nicolas Anelka put them ahead in the first minute, rounding off a fine team move with a cool side-foot finish.

Erik Nevland equalized with an angled drive across Petr Cech just three minutes later, but Florent Malouda was quick to put the Blues back in front.

Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba made the points safe in the 53rd minute as Guus Hiddink's men moved level on points with Liverpool, having played a game more.

A howler from David James set Arsenal on their way to a 3-0 win against Portsmouth, the England goalkeeper letting Nicklas Bendtner's back post header slip through his hands.

Bendtner slotted his second from the penalty spot after Sean Davis was adjudged to have brought down Andrey Arshavin as the Gunners went in firmly in control at Fratton Park. And Carlos Vela sealed the points with an assured finish in the second half.

And on Sunday Liverpool pushed ten-man Newcastle closer toward the brink of relegation as they kept their own title hopes alive with a 3-0 victory at Anfield.

The Geordies were outplayed as the Reds kept the pressure on leaders Manchester United with first-half goals from Yossi Benayoun and Dirk Kuyt, and a late header from Lucas.

The win puts Rafael Benitez's men back within three points of the Red Devils -- who have a game in hand -- with Newcastle's plight worsening when Joey Barton was sent off for a bad tackle on Xabi Alonso with 11 minutes left.

The home crowd, some 44,000 of them chanted to the Newcastle manager: "You should have stayed on the telly". To his credit, Alan Shearer saw the funny side, but events on the pitch mean the northeast club are three points adrift of safety having played a game more than Hull.