Record breaker Raul fires Real closer to Barca

Current club captain Raul now stands alone as Real Madrid’s all-time leading goalscorer with 309 goals, scoring twice as Real hammered Sporting Gijon 4-0 on Sunday to close to within ten points of Barcelona at the summit.

Raul, 31, scored on the quarter hour mark to overtake the great Alfredo di Stefano’s long-standing record of 307 goals and added another in the second half as Juande Ramos’s side sealed an eighth successive league win.

Dutch forward Klaas-Jan Huntelaar was also on target with his first Real goal while Brazilian Marcelo also grabbed a rare goal.

Real have managed to shave two points off Barca’s lead this weekend after Barca’s run of ten consecutive wins came to an end with a 2-2 draw at Real Betis on Saturday.

Defending champions Real are now ten points behind Barca with 15 games left although Barca have the superior head-to-head record having beaten Real 2-0 at Camp Nou in December.

Real paid a costly price for the international friendlies in midweek with Dutch winger Arjen Robben picking up a knock.

Rafael van der Vaart was also suspended, forcing Ramos to switch things around but Huntelaar was not complaining as he was handed a rare start up front.

Raul struck after 15 minutes with his record-breaking 308th goal in Real’s colours and Sporting – hammered 7-1 by Real in September – justifiably feared another rout.

Huntelaar had not scored for Real since a 20 million euro move from Ajax but broke his duck with a neat finish on 37 minutes.

Marcelo, jeered by Real fans on several occasions this season, then produced a deft finish to wrap up the game early in the second period before Raul netted again.

Real’s win applies a bit of pressure on Barca who came from two goals down to draw 2-2 at Betis with Samuel Eto’o scoring twice to make it 23 goals for the season.

“We were confident that we could get something out of the game and are happy with a draw after a great game,” explained Eto’o.

Villarreal finished above Barca last season but have been anything but consistent this season and drew 1-1 with Racing Santander on Sunday.

Villarreal miss the chance to go third and are now locked on 38 points with Valencia and Sevilla who have a game in hand.

Two out of form sides meet later on Sunday when Sevilla travel to Espanyol.

Sevilla have lost their last three matches, including a painful derby defeat to Betis, while Espanyol have not won since the beginning of November.

Valencia’s 1-1 draw with Malaga on Saturday has handed Sevilla, currently fourth, a chance to pull three points clear of their Champions League rivals. “As far as I am concerned not getting in the Champions League this season would be a catastrophe,” said Sevilla midfielder Adriano.

Espanyol now prop up the table after Real Mallorca climbed above them with a 1-0 win over fellow strugglers Numancia.

Atletico Madrid are another side harbouring Champions League aspirations and have a derby game against Getafe later on Sunday.