New Delhi: Barcelona's record breaking run of form continues apace following a deserved victory over Sporting Gijon.
A brace from Samuel Eto'o in the first half put the Blaugrana en route for an expected win that takes their points tally for the season up to 59 from a possible 66.
The hosts were the better side in the early stages as they built patiently from the midfield, but Sporting's unusually defensive outlook made for few chances in these early stages.
In fact Barcelona needed to wait 12 minutes for their first chance, which resulted in Inaki Lafuente tipping Thierry Henry's header over the bar after good work from Daniel Alves and Martin Caceres.
The second opportunity resulted in the opening goal as Barcelona punished Sporting's first real forward adventure with an incisive counter-attack. Andres Iniesta strode forty yards forward on the ball before squaring it out left to Henry; the Frenchman first-touched a cross into the centre, where Samuel Eto'o was waiting to blast it into the roof of the net.
With Sporting then forced to open up a bit, Barcelona had more space in which to work, and Henry very nearly took advantage right from the restart through Henry.
But Sporting were holding their lines on the edge of the box and restricting the number of chances available - at least until the 39th minute.
That was when Lionel Messi jinked through on the edge of the box before slipping a pass to Eto'o, who in turn evaded Gerard and thundered the ball past the helpless Lafuente.
Barcelona, then, had well and truly won both the midfield and the attacking battle by pressing hard on the edge of the area, and they went in to half time with a deserved two-goal advantage.
Their free approach to the game continued after the restart as on-form right-back Dani Alves strode forward to get on the end of Henry's useful far post cross, but his acrobatic finish did not trouble the 'keeper.
Xavi, who was having a quiet but still decent game, then came close to testing Lafuente after good work from Messi and Iniesta, but shot over the bar at the moment of truth, while Lafuente was to deny Messi twice in quick succession.
There was to be no such problem for Dani Alves, though, who made it 3-0 after getting in a superb position to get on the end of Messi's short pass and finish from a narrow angle.
To their credit Sporting were able to pull one back, Xavi's poor headed clearance from a free-kick being seized upon by Kike Mateo for a low, drilled finish past Valdes.
But with Iniesta pulling the strings in midfield, and being faced with little opposition, Barcelona were still rampant, as Eto'o proved when the woodwork denied him his hat-trick after Alves' cross.
By this time Sylvinho had come on for Carles Puyol, and as such Eric Abidal had moved into the centre to join Caceres in an unorthodox-looking defensive linem, but one that was to remain largely untroubled in the closing stages.
Thierry Henry had been putting in a decent shift out on the left of the 4-3-3, meanwhile, although he had seen little by way of goalmouth action. His third and probably best chance came at the far post following yet another incisive Alves cross, but he was to head wide.
Sylvinho did eventually the same a couple of minutes later, after which Barcelona took a more patient approach to the match, attempting various one-two combinations on the edge of the box, albeit to little effect.
Sporting, meanwhile, were looking to keep the score down, despite the introduction of Mate Bilic for Diego Castro midway through the second period.
Andres Iniesta left the pitch to a standing ovation six minutes from time to allow Eidur Gudjohnsen a run-out, and soon Victor Sanchez was offered a similar chance at the expense of the well-acclaimed Dani Alves, but there were to be no more goals as the clock ticked down.
Sporting put in a decent enough showing but lacked the class necessary to sink their hosts, who looked far more comfortable right across the board. Meanwhile this match served as the Blaugrana's 10th league victory in a row, four short of their all-time maximum, set in the 2004-05 season. With their next five opponents being Betis, Espanyol, Atletico Madrid, Mallorca, and Athletic, there is every chance that this could be yet another record broken this season.
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