Recreativo Huelva 1 - Barcelona 3

Recreativo: Luque; Espinola, Loren, Iker Begoña, Pernía; Javi García (Joaozinho 77'), Viqueira (Cubillo 63'), Camacho, Benítez; Oscar Arpón (Quique Romero 46'); Raúl Molina. 4-4-1-1.
Barcelona: Víctor Valdés; Reiziger, Puyol, Frank De Boer, Oscar López; Rochemback, Mendieta (Gerard 75'), Cocu, Luis Enrique (Nano 85'); Saviola (Riquelme 65'), Kluivert. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Recreativo: Iker Begoña, Oscar Arpón for Alex, Mario Bermejo / Barcelona: Reiziger, Puyol, Frank De Boer, Oscar López, Rochemback for Gabri, Andersson, Christanval, Sorín, Gerard.

Goals:
0-1. 42. Saviola. Ran on to return pass from Rochemback to shoot wide of Luque.
0-2. 52. Kluivert. Picked up ball on halfway line and ran through defence to score.
0-3. 84. Riquelme. Took cross from right and shot low across keeper.
1-3. 88. Joaozinho. First time shot from outside area into top corner of net.

Barcelona kept up their push for the last UEFA spot with a 1-3 win at Recreativo and they move up to seventh in the table, albeit four points off sixth placed Athletic. In the end it was a comfortable win for the Catalans although Recre did have the early chances, Víctor Valdés proving why he is now the first choice keeper at the Nou Camp with saves from Raúl Molina and Oscar Arpón.

But three minutes before the break a quick passing move between Rochemback and Saviola ended with the Argentine forward beating Luque, and the local resistance crumbled. Soon after the restart Kluivert picked the ball up on the halfway line and swathed his way through the local defence before beating the keeper again, a goal slightly soiled by the fact that Espinola was lying on the ground asking for assistance and the fans were shouting for the ball to be put out of play.

Antic brought on Riquelme for the last quarter of the game, and he too added his name to the scoresheet six minutes from the end. That finished off the Andalucians, although Joaozinho did get a consolation goal two minutes from the end with a spectacular shot. Recre now find themselves four points adrift of seventeenth placed Osasuna, and with only three games to go it does appear as if they are in line for an immediate return to the second division. Oh well, at least they have the cup final to look forward to.