MADRID (AFP) - Samuel Eto'o contributed two goals as Barcelona won their first away game in La Liga for four months with a 4-0 thrashing of Recreativo Huelva on Saturday.

The reigning Spanish champions stay on course for their third successive league title and have a three point lead over nearest rivals Sevilla, although the UEFA Cup winners have a game in hand.

However, Barca coach Frank Rijkaard demonstrated the old adage that some people are never happy, despite the emphatic victory.

"I'm happy with the result but not the way we played. The early goal changed the plans and facilitated our victory but we didn't play well," the Dutch coach told a surprised audience at the post-match press conference.

"Deco and (Andres) Iniesta had a good game but we were fortunate to score at opportune moments. Nevertheless, winning away after four months is important," added Rijkaard.

Barca were quickly out of their blocks with Eto'o scoring just three minutes into the game.

He spotted Recreativo goalkeeper Javier Lopez Vallejo out of position and found the net with a long, looping shot from 30 metres.

Gianluca Zambrotta got his first league goal for Barca six minutes before the break when he chipped the ball past Lopez Vallejo from the corner of the six yard box following a pass by Deco.

Eto'o then added his second goal four minutes later and Lionel Messi completed Barca's quartet four minutes from time to give the Catalan club their best away victory in any competition this season.

The Argentine teenager sped past Recreativo's hapless defenders before unleashing a left foot shot from the edge of the area.

"This win is very important. We've not won away from home for so long," said Messi.

Sevilla will be trying to keep up with Barca by beating struggling Celta Vigo on Sunday but they now have an acutely inferior goal difference.

Third-placed Valencia squandered their chance to close the gap on the leading pair in the Spanish first division when they went down 2-0 at home to Racing Santander earlier on Saturday.

Pedro Munitis put Racing in front after 20 minutes, finding the net from the edge of the six yard box following a pass by Nicola Zigic, and Oriol Lozano sealed the victory with a header from a Munitis corner after 63 minutes.

"We weren't comfortable at any moment. They (Racing) had clear ideas and they were endorsed by their goals," lamented Valencia coach Quique Flores.

"Valencia are fighting on two fronts and this can wear you out," said Racing coach Miguel Angel Portugal, refering to the fact that Valencia are the only Spanish team remaining in the Champions League.

Valencia defender David Navarro, who on Wednesday was banned by UEFA from the Champions League for seven months because of his part in the mass brawl at the end of the match against Inter Milan last week, started in place of the injured Roberto Ayala.

UEFA are asking the world governing body FIFA to ban Navarro from all games but at the moment he is still eligible to play in domestic matches.

Real Madrid are fourth, two points behind Valencia, but a win against relegation-threatened Gimnastic Tarragona on Sunday would see them leapfrog over the 2002 and 2004 Spanish champions.

"If we win and play well that would be perfect but the most important thing is that we win because we have given away too many points at home," said Real coach Fabio Capello on Saturday.

Two goals in less than three minutes after the start of the game gave Real Mallorca a 2-0 win over Real Betis on Saturday and handed the Seville-based side its first loss in 10 games.

Guillermo Pereyra headed Mallorca in front in under a minute, connecting with a corner from his Argentine compatriot Ariel Ibagaza, and Venezuela midfielder Juan Arango added a second shortly afterwards.

Athletic Bilbao's relegation worries deepened when they went down 3-0 at home to Osasuna.

An Inaki Munoz penalty on 30 minutes, after Athletic defender Fernando Amorebieta had brought down Roberto Soldado, was augmented by two exceptional second half goals from David Lopez and Jose Izquierdo.