Barca wins Clasico, Sevilla held in La Liga

MADRID, March 20 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 in El Clasico at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday night to end a run of five consecutive defeats to their rivals in a convincing style.

Barca outplayed the league leaders from start to finish, taking the lead through Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's stooping header and then doubling it before the break when Ronald Araujo nodded home an Ousmane Dembele corner.

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti made changes at half-time and opted to play with three at the back, but that was a fatal mistake as Ferran Torres first missed when clean through in the 46th minute, before adding his side's third just a minute later.

Torres then teed up Aubameyang for Barca's fourth in the 51st minute, with Real Madrid all over the place in defense and midfield. But for the efforts of Thibaut Courtois in the Madrid goal, his side's defeat would have been even heavier.

Second-placed Sevilla failed to take advantage of Real Madrid's setback, however, as they were held to a 0-0 draw at home to Real Sociedad, who had the better chances against a rival that looked tired after playing 120 minutes in their Europa League defeat away to West Ham on Thursday.

It is now six consecutive defeats for Real Mallorca after Raul de Tomas' goal at the end of the first half condemned them to a 1-0 defeat away to Espanyol. The win just about assures Espanyol's survival while making De Tomas the top-scoring Spaniard in La Liga.

Mallorca's defeat saw them drop into the bottom three after Cadiz took advantage of that result with a 1-0 win at home to Villarreal, who rested several key players and suffered a hangover after their 3-0 Champions League win away to Juventus in midweek.

Villarreal had most of the ball, but Cadiz were more aggressive in attack, although it wasn't until the last minute that Ruben Sobrino's far-post finish gave them their second home win of the campaign.

Celta Vigo and Real Betis played out a 0-0 draw, although the home side deserved more after having the better chances, only to be denied by Claudio Bravo and Marc Bartra on various occasions.

On Saturday, Koke's goal early in the second half gave Atletico Madrid a narrow 1-0 win away to city neighbors Rayo Vallecano.

Goncalo Guedes' scrambled goal gave Valencia a narrow win in an east-coast derby away to Elche, while Granada dealt a serious blow to Alaves' survival hopes with a 3-2 win in Vitoria.

Levante's survival hopes also suffered an almost fatal blow as they fell to a 3-1 defeat away to Osasuna.

Athletic Bilbao's chances of playing in Europe next season suffered a setback as a fine performance by Getafe keeper David Soria saw them held to a 1-1 draw. ■