Barcelona maintained their dominance against La Liga opponents, and continue to maintain pressure on leaders Real Madrid with a victory over 10-man Real Zaragoza at Estadio La Romareda on Saturday, 4-1.

The home side was in position to stun the Catalans, when Carlos Aranda missed a penalty kick in the 24th minute, but Aranda made up for it with a goal in the 30th minute.

Barcelona would fight back. The Catalans received a strike from Carles Puyol off a goalkeeping error from Roberto Gago in the 36th minute. Three minutes later, Lionel Messi scored with a powerful shot on the left side to give Pep Guardiola's squad the lead.

The score would stay that way until the 86th minute with Messi converting a penalty kick, and then Pedro putting the icing on the cake in the 90th.

It was a difficult loss for Real Zaragoza. Not only did they miss a penalty kick, and gave one up to one of the best clubs in the world, they played with 10 men for the second half as Abraham Fernandez was shown a second yellow card before half time.

From a shot perspective, the match was very competitive. Barcelona took 14 shots with seven on goal, while Real Zaragoza took 14 shots with five on target. However, Barcelona completely dominated the possession battle, by controlling the ball for 77 percent of the match.

Barcelona are within three points of Real Madrid. Jose Mourinho's squad host Valencia on Sunday at Santiago Bernabeu.

Here are the highlights from the match:

Real Zaragoza 1 - 4 FC Barcelonaby nike7sport

Real Madrid Lionel Messi Real Madrid Lionel Messi