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Ruud van Nistelrooy made a successful comeback for Spanish champions Real Madrid as they continued their title celebrations with an emphatic 4-1 thrashing of arch rivals Barcelona on Wednesday night. The striker, who had been out with injury for two months, crowned his comeback with a second-half goal, cheered on by an 80, 000 crowd. Former PSV forward Arjen Robben also got his name on the scoresheet for Real Madrid.
When the score was 3-0 fifteen minutes from time, Ruud van Nistelrooy came off the bench to replace Raúl and a few minutes later he calmly converted a penalty, for handball by Carles Puyol. Santiago Bernabéu erupted after thirteen minutes when Raúl scored the opening goal with a left-foot shot from just outside the box. Robben doubled the champions' advantage seven minutes later, scoring his second headed goal in four days' time. Substitute Gonzalo HiguaÃn added a third goal in the 63rd minute, after Muhamadu Diarra had singled him out with a perfect pass. Thierry Henry netted a consolation goal in the closing stages and Frank Rijkaard's team were reduced to ten men, following a second yellow card for Xavi Hernández in injury time.
