Real and Barca a win

REAL Madrid and Barcelona both won ahead of their Champions League semi-final first-leg clash on Wednesday.

By The Newsroom

Published 23rd Apr 2011, 13:53 BST

Updated 24th Apr 2011, 02:00 BST

A weakened Real side routed Valencia 6-3 away, while a far more pedestrian 2-0 win for Barcelona at home to lowly Osasuna maintained their eight-point lead at the top of La Liga.

Real's Gonzalo Higuain rattled in three goals against third-placed Valencia and Kaka grabbed a double after Karim Benzema had opened the scoring.

Bara beat relegation-haunted Osasuna with a first-half goal from David Villa and a late strike from substitute Lionel Messi.