Sneijder inspires five-star Real to summit
MADRID: Wesley Sneijder may not sell as many Real Madrid shirts as David Beckham but the Dutch international, who inherited the England star's No 23 shirt, certainly has his dead-ball skills, scoring twice as the champions crushed Villareal 5-0 on Sunday.
Earlier Barcelona had notched its first win of the new season with Brazilian Ronaldinho scoring twice in a convincing 3-1 victory against Athletico Bilbao.
But Real was even more impressive building on last weekend's 2-1 derby defeat of Atletico, who drew 1-1 with Mallorca on Sunday, with a humiliation of Villareal who had won its last nine league matches.
Captain Raul opened the scoring on 38 minutes before Sneijder stole the show with a fantastic free-kick reminiscent of Beckham in his prime.
"I am really happy with his goals. We know he has good technique and a shot that can be very effective," said Real coach Bernd Schuster.
"I am sure he is going to score more goals this season."
The former Ajax man scored again for his third goal of the season with compatriot Ruud Van Nistelrooy, the league's top-scorer last season, and Guti completing the rout.
"Scoring first was very important today," admitted Schuster. "The first five minutes (when Real scored twice) of the second half were also good for us because it left them deflated.
"Next month is important for us because we start the Champions League campaign but at the moment we are going to enjoy it because you don't score five goals every day."
Real is the only team on the maximum six points with Barcelona and a number of other teams chasing on four.
French international forward Thierry Henry, a 24-million-euro summer signing from Arsenal, made his first league start in Barcelona's colors but it was Ronaldinho, top-scorer last season with 21 goals, who took the headlines.
Ronaldinho scored a trademark free-kick after just eight minutes, the club's first goal of the season, and he was on target again on 34 minutes converting a penalty after Henry had been felled in the area.
Henry came off to a standing ovation just after the hour mark with just a goal missing from a stellar display.
"Henry showed his quality and how dangerous he can be in games like this," explained Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard.
"I was happy with the result and thought we played with a lot of energy especially in the first half when we created a number of chances."
AFP
(China Daily 09/04/2007 page24)
