Ronaldinho sparks Barça recovery

"Sometimes you see beautiful people with no brains," Chelsea FC manager José Mourinho mused when questioned about the state of the Stamford Bridge pitch prior to kick-off against FC Barcelona. "And sometimes you have ugly people who are intelligent, like scientists. Our pitch is a bit like that." They proved prophetic words as substance triumphed over style for much of last night's last 16 first leg before the most stylish of them all, Ronaldinho, inspired a thrilling finale.

Ronaldinho inspires Barca to victory

Ronaldinho was in inspirational form as he returned to lead Barcelona to a 5-1 home victory over an unfortunate Real Betis in the Primera Liga on Saturday.

The leaders now have 55 points and remain seven clear of second-placed Real Madrid who recorded their sixth consecutive league win by sweeping aside lowly Alaves 3-0 at the Bernabeu.

Barca’s Brazilian playmaker, who was suspended for the league defeats against Atletico Madrid and Valencia, played a part in Henrik Larsson’s opener and triggered Melli’s own goal.

Ronaldinho then went on two score two himself from free kicks but it was not all plain sailing for the home side which had keeper Victor Valdes to thank for a number of crucial saves.

Joaquin pulled a goal back for Betis on the hour but Lionel Messi came off the bench to make it five with six minutes left.

Javier Saviola scored the only goal as Sevilla beat visitors Celta Vigo 1-0 to climb above them to fifth on 41 points, two ahead of the Galicians.

Villarreal cruised to a 4-0 home win over Espanyol to move up a spot to seventh with 38 points.

Ronaldinho prepares for World Cup

Ronaldinho practices at night and early in the morning on a beach near Barcelona to improve his physical condition ahead of the World Cup, his personal trainer told local media.

Joaquim Valdimar Goncalves Garcia told the Folha de S Paulo newspaper that Ronaldinho spends hours jogging and playing footvolley in order to get in shape.

"It's hard for Ronaldinho to leave home without being recognised," Garcia said. "So we have to opt for hours in which the beach is empty."

He said Ronaldinho's training sessions take place at the Castelldefels beach, some 25 km from Barcelona.

Ronaldinho's secret workout routine surprised even Brazil's physical trainer, Moracy Santana.

"We don't know about things like this unless the player tells us," Santana told the Folha de S Paulo. "And he never said anything."

The 25-year-old FC Barcelona midfielder won his second straight FIFA World Player of the Year award in December. He helped Barcelona win the Spanish league title in 2005 for the first time in six years.

Brazil leads FIFA's world rankings and is favoured to win its record sixth World Cup title. (AP)

Ronaldinho sees red, Barca out

Ronaldinho was red carded for Barcelona as the Catalan club were knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Real Zaragoza.

The Brazilian playmaker was dismissed after 39 minutes for lashing out at Ruben Cani in the second leg of their Spanish Cup quarter-final meeting. Barcelona were trying to overturn a 4-2 deficit and, despite winning 2-1 on the night, lost 5-4 on aggregate.

Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, however, remained positive despite the loss which cost them a semi-final clash with Real Madrid. The Dutchman saw a plus point from not having to play a tough semi-final against Real just before meeting Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League.

Barca play the first leg against Chelsea on Feb 22, while the Cup semi-finals are due to be played on Feb 8 and Feb 15. “Now we’ll have more time to prepare really well for the Chelsea game,” he added.

Rijkaard refused to be drawn into criticising the referee who harshly showed Ronaldinho a straight red card in the 39th minute for a tackle on Cani. He said: “If we had scored two more goals no one would have talked about the referee. We can’t complain because it is far too easy to do that.”

The other semi-final pitches Espanyol against Deportivo Coruna, who ran out 2-1 aggregate winners over Valencia on Wednesday.