Henry keeps shaky Barça ticking over

Barcelona 2 Recreativo Huelva

(JASPER JUINEN / GETTY IMAGES)

The electronic clock inside the stadium still read "00" but the scoreline had already moved to "Barcelona 1 Recreativo 0". Nobody holds out for long at the Nou Camp – Recreativo lasted 45 seconds on Saturday.

It was Andres Iniesta who gave Barcelona that early lead and although the result was not as emphatic as the first 60 seconds had suggested, with enough mistakes over the next 89 minutes to give hope to the English team who may yet face Barça in the Champions League, it was enough to move them another step closer to the title.

With a Real Madrid side watched by former player David Beckham winning 2-0 against Valladolid courtesy of goals from Raul and Arjen Robben, the gap at the top stayed at six points with eight games remaining. It was Thierry Henry moving smoothly through the gears down the left who carved out the early opening. He accelerated past Alain Nef and pulled the ball back across the six-yard box where Iniesta finished – both Recreativo's defenders and those spectators taking their seats a fraction late had been too slow for the supersonic leaders.

Recreativo as a team went into the game having scored one more goal than Barcelona's leading striker, the rested Samuel Eto'o. But despite the early blow they set about Barça in a way that would have encouraged Guus Hiddink and Co. They forced two corners and Sebastian Nayar should have equalised on six minutes but Victor Valdes spread himself well to block the shot. A sloppy back-pass from Eidur Gudjohnsen and a needless body check outside his own box by keeper Valdes gave Recreativo a leg-up into the game. A better side would have taken advantage of such generosity.

Messi then went close after a move involving Bojan and Gudjohnsen as Barcelona woke up again towards half-time and 23 minutes into the second period they got the second. Iniesta ran at the Recreativo defence, swerving one way and then the other before sending in a harmless cross-shot that went past Asier Riesgo via a deflection off Nasief Morris. An off-colour Leo Messi could have put a deceiving gloss on the scoreline but missed a penalty with a tame shot that was beaten out by Riesgo following Jose Casado's hand-ball.

The 2-0 final score made it 492 minutes since Valdes last conceded a goal although that record remained intact in spite of, rather than because of, Barcelona's defending.

Sergi Busquets lost possession and was still appealing for a foul when Recreativo raced away to score through Ersen Martin only for the flag to go up for a non-existent offside.

"We knew it would not be an easy victory but it takes us one step closer to the objective," said Pep Guardiola who has named a full-strength squad for tomorrow night's trip to Munich – a tie that is only half-way complete but nine-tenths won thanks to the emphatic 4-0 first leg.

More evenly balanced is Villarreal's second leg against Arsenal on Wednesday a match they will face without their inspirational captain, Marcos Senna. The Spain midfielder and scorer in the first leg hobbled off with a hamstring strain and is not expected to travel to London. The stretched resources of coach Manuel Pellegrini will see him turn to Robert Pires for some much needed leadership. The former Arsenal midfielder, rested for Villarreal's 2-0 defeat at home to Malaga on Saturday, is expected to start at the Emirates and could even lead the side out in Senna's absence – Pellegrini is desperate for Pires to roll back the years on his return to North London. Villarreal go there having won only four games away all season and those victories all came in their first five away games. They were overtaken by Valencia for the last Champions League qualifying place after this latest defeat.

Under 10,000 fans saw them go down to goals from Duda and Eliseu, failing to score themselves against a team that had previously not kept a clean sheet since January.