Ibrahimovic puts Barcelona on top

Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored four minutes after coming on as a substitute to lead Barcelona to a 1-0 victory against Real Madrid, and sent the defending champion to the top of the Spanish league standings here on Sunday.

Moments after Barcelona’s defence had denied a Gonzalo Higuain effort, Daniel Alves found Ibrahimovic at the far post with a lofted cross in the 56th minute and the Swedish striker never broke stride as he volleyed past Iker Casillas with his left foot in the highly-anticipated clash.

Cristiano Ronaldo, making his first start in two months, had Real’s best chance in the 20th minute, but was denied by Victor Valdes. Ronaldo’s replacement, Karim Benzema, fired over the top with only Valdes to beat in the 80th minute. Barcelona leads the standings with 30 points, overtaking Real on 28.

Important results:

Spanish league: Sunday: Barcelona 1 (Ibrahimovic 56) bt Real Madrid 0; Atletico Madrid 4 (Forlan 27, Aguero 62 & 85, Maxi Rodriguez 89) bt Espanyol 0; Saturday: Valencia 1 (Villa 48) drew with Real Mallorca 1 (Valero 85-pen); Sevilla 2 (Fabiano 58 & 72) drew with Malaga 2 (Fernando 22, Baha 45).

Italian league: Sunday: Cagliari 2 (Nene 30, Matri 89) bt Juventus 0; Inter Milan 1 (Milito 85-pen) bt Fiorentina 0; Catania 0 lost to AC Milan 2 (Huntelaar 90+3 & 90+5); Saturday: Genoa 3 (Milanetto 10-pen, Rossi 53, Palladino 75-pen) bt Sampdoria 0. — Agencies