The gap between the leaders and Barça now  stands at an imposing seven points following Real's victory over Real  Zaragoza. Barcelona were particularly sluggish in the first half, during  which Villarreal could have even taken the lead, while the second  period saw them denied by a stout defensive performance and some good  saves from Diego Lopez.
Dani Alves worked Lopez for the first time after only three minutes, before Ruben Cani returned fire for the hosts by forcing Victor Valdes into action five minutes later. Barça were seeing plenty of the ball and Lionel Messi  thought he had opened the scoring in the 17th minute when he went one  on one with the charging Lopez and produced a delicate chip. The ball  hung in the air for what seemed like an age until it squirmed just wide.
Villarreal  enjoyed a good period thereafter, almost taking the lead themselves  when Valdes flapped at a free-kick and Gerard Pique's defensive header  looped towards the Barca goalline. Luckily for them, Javier Mascherano  was on hand to head clear and Eric Abidal was able to block Jose Luis  Joselu's resulting shot.
Alves drilled a  low free-kick just wide for Barcelona after 31 minutes, but the visitors  were struggling for their usual rhythm. Marcos Senna's superb  first-time effort four minutes later was curling towards goal and needed  an athletic save from Valdes to keep the stalemate.
The  corner that followed was headed in by Gonzalo Rodriguez, but he was  adjudged to have been in an offside position. Villarreal saw a penalty  claim against Sergio Busquets turned down two minutes into the second  half but, that aside, Barça were the dominant force in the second  period.

 
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