Agence France-Presse
Madrid, April 21: Barcelona bounced back from their worst run of La Liga defeats for 13 years in emphatic fashion as Luis Suarez scored four goals in an 8-0 thrashing of Deportivo la Coruna, Wednesday.
Ivan Rakitic, Lionel Messi, Marc Bartra and Neymar were also on target as Barca reasserted their control in the Spanish title race.
Barca’s superior head-to-head record keeps them ahead of Atletico Madrid at the top of the table with four games remaining as Fernando Torres’s hot-streak continued with the winner in a 1-0 success at Athletic Bilbao.
Real Madrid remained a point behind in third as goals from Karim Benzema, Lucas Vazquez and Luka Modric ensured a 3-0 win over Villarreal. However, victory came at a cost as Cristiano Ronaldo limped off holding his right hamstring a few minutes from time.
“He got a fright, but I don’t think it is anything serious,” said Real boss Zinedine Zidane. “I am calmer now than when I saw him leave the pitch. He should recover soon enough.”
Barca’s sensational return to form came after having taken just one point from their last possible 12 in the La Liga. “We are human, we aren’t machines and we can all commit errors or have a bad game,” Suarez told Spanish TV station ‘Movistar’.
Suarez settled the visitors’ nerves after just 11 minutes when he outmuscled Sidnei to volley home. Celso Borges then missed two huge chances to bring Deportivo level as he was denied by Claudio Bravo and a last-ditch block by Bartra before Suarez gave Barca a cushion when he latched onto Messi’s sumptuous through-ball to slot low past Manu.
Suarez turned provider for Barca’s third just after the break when his cross to the back post was volleyed home emphatically by Rakitic. Then Messi created the fourth with another defence-splitting pass and Suarez kept his composure to seal his sixth hat-trick of a prolific season.
Suarez was gifted his fourth of the night from Neymar’s unselfish cross for his 49th goal of the season. The former Liverpool striker then added a second assist to his four-goal haul as his cut-back was gratefully tapped home by Messi.
Bartra joined the party as he galloped forward from his own half before firing into the far corner of the Deportivo goal and Neymar completed a perfect night for the Spanish champions when he tapped home at the far post for his first goal in six games.
Real knew they had to win to remain realistically in the title race. Benzema headed home his 27th goal of the season four minutes before half time after Sergio Asenjo could only parry Ronaldo’s fierce effort. Two more goals were scored in the second half.
