Lionel Messi was fit enough only to make an appearance from the bench, but it didn’t matter for Barcelona. Neymar and Luis Suarez were the stars as the La Liga leaders continued their superb run to shock Real Madrid for a 4-0 victory in the El Clasico at the Bernabeu.
Suarez scored in both halves while Neymar and Andres Iniesta also found the net. Suarez opened the scoring for Luis Enrique’s side 11 minutes in, clinically netting a first-time finish following a fine run and pass from Sergi Roberto.
Neymar made it two six minutes from the interval as he latched onto a cute through-ball from Andres Iniesta before rolling the ball underneath Navas.
In the second half Madrid started well but failed to translate it in anything useful. Soon Barca were back on top with Iniesta blasting the third – his first league goal since March 2014, also against Madrid – smashing the ball past Navas after a delightful back-heel assist from Neymar. Suarez added a fourth as he raced through before cheekily lobbing Navas from close range.
Real Madrid’s Isco – who replaced James – was shown a straight red card for a lunging hack on Neymar five minutes from time.
Barca moved six points clear at the top of La Liga with this win with 30 points while the Los Blancos are at 24 points and in danger of being surpassed by Atletico Madrid for the second place this weekend.