FCBARCELONA.CAT

03.05.2009 13:30

International recognition

www.fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona's remarkable victory against Real Madrid had the European media in a frenzy on Sunday as they heaped universal praise on Pep Guardiola team after the display of attaching football produced an historic result in the Bernabéu.

England and Chelsea watching

The English press paid close attention to the encounter as Barça meet Chelsea next and they recognised that the task ahead for the Blues had become even tougher after the morale-boosting six-goal demolition Madrid had been dealt. "Barcelona run riot at Real Madrid and put Chelsea on notice", the Guardian headline stated, while The Times wrote "Barcelona blast out six-goal warning to Chelsea".

The Independent and The Sun went along similar lines as both stated that Barcelona's display had sent "a message" out to Chelsea and to their manager Guus Hiddink.

Uefa.com

On uefa.com's Spanish language side they ran with "Barça can touch the title" and believes that "Barça boosted their morale ahead of the second leg of the Champions League semi final against Chelsea on Wednesday after the first game between the two ended goalless".

L' Équipe

Prestigious French football newspaper L'Equipe stated that Barça 'hammered beat Real Madird 2-6 in al Clásico and are now on course to win the league title".

'La Gazzetta dello Sport'

Italy's popular football paper made a strong comment with their headline. "Barcelona scares Real Madrid with a football lesson". In their match report they added that FC Barcelona "are touching the title with both hands. The lesson handed out was a demonstration of their superiority that proved to be a humiliation".

'Bild' and 'Kicker'

Two of Germany's main publications reported on events in the Bernabéu as Bild and Kicker both used "Humiliation" to describe the encounter and the performance.

Argentina with Messi

"Real Envy" was the headline that Olé led with below a photo of Lionel Messi celebrating one of his two goals in the Bernabéu in el Clásico. "Marvellous Barcelona march towards the title and Leo is the new king of world football", there piece read. Clarín contained an interview with the Barça number ten in which he stated "we made history, no?".

'A Bola'

The Portuguese press echoed the historic nature of the win. "Barça hit Madrid for six in the Bernabéu" the newspaper A Bola stated. "The league title now seems decided as there is a gap of seven points between the teams".