Impressive Madrid beats Barcelona 2-1 to go top in Spain

Madrid, Apr 11 (AP): Keeping Lionel Messi in check again in what could turn out to be his last Spanish league cl sico, Real Madrid continued the impressive run which has put it at the heart of the title race.
Four days after beating Liverpool in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals, Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday to return to the top in Spain.
“We have to enjoy what we’ve been doing. We got two very good results and it wasn’t easy,” Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said. “Being in the lead won’t change anything for us. We have to keep working hard.”
The victory in pouring rain in the Spanish capital left Madrid tied on points with Atl tico Madrid, which on Sunday can return to the top when it visits sixth-place Real Betis. Madrid is ahead of its city rival on the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Barcelona, which had been unbeaten in 19 straight league games, stayed one point off the lead.
The 33-year-old Messi, who reached seven straight cl sicos without a goal, has his contract with Barcelona ending this season. The Argentina star expressed his desire to leave the Catalan club last year but had the request denied.
Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos scored first-half goals to give Madrid its sixth straight win in all competitions. The defending league champions were coming off a 3-1 win over Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday.