Barca extend lead in La Liga

Madrid, February 12:

Ronaldinho scored his 14th and 15th goals of the season on Sunday to help FC Barcelona beat Racing Santander 2-0 and increase their lead to three points in the Spanish league.

Ronaldinho curled a 51st-minute free kick for his first goal. The Brazilian scored again in the 67th when he headed in Deco’s free kick to give Barcelona only their third victory in seven league games.

Mario Cotelo, Daniel Guiza and Nacho Perez each scored second-half goals to give Getafe a 3-0 win over Valencia. Valencia’s second defeat in three games left them in fourth place, hitting their hopes of repeating their title triumphs of 2002 and 2004.

In a late game, Atletico Madrid beat Athletic Bilbao 1-0. Barcelona improved to 46 points, while Sevilla have 43. Madrid are next with 41 points, two more than Valencia and Atletico.

Also it was: Mallorca 2, Zaragoza 1; Villarreal 0, Deportivo La Coruna 2; Levante 2, Recreativo Huelva 1; Gimnastic Tarragona 2, Osasuna 3; and Celta Vigo 0, Espanyol 2.

Italian Serie A

MILAN: Inter Milan won its 15th straight game in the Serie A on Sunday, beating Chievo Verona 2-0, and Brazil striker Ronaldo made his debut in AC Milan’s win.

The Serie A resumed on Sunday, more than a week after all professional soccer in Italy was suspended for fan violence.

Adriano put Inter ahead in the first minute and Hernan Crespo added the second in the 51st. Inter’s result tied the European record for consecutive wins held by Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. Madrid won 15 in La Liga in the 1960-61 and Bayern won their last nine Bundesliga games of 2004-05 and their first six of 2005-06.

Ronaldo replaced Oliveira in the 63rd for his first appearance for Milan. Milan beat Livorno 2-1.

Inter lead the league with 60 points, 11 more than AS Roma, which beat Parma 3-0. Palermo, who lost Empoli 1-0, are third with 42 points. Also it was: Atalanta 0, Lazio 0; Cagliari 2, Siena 2; Fiorentina 2, Udinese 0; Messina 1, Catania 1; Sampdoria 2, Ascoli 0; and Torino 1, Reggina 2.