Barcelona have moved above Real Madrid to the top of La Liga after recording a 3-0 win over 10-man Sevilla in Wednesday night's entertaining contest at Camp Nou.
Luis Suarez opened the scoring on the night, before Lionel Messi netted twice in the space of five minutes as the Spanish champions moved to the summit ahead of Real Madrid's clash with Leganes.
Messi returned to the Barcelona XI after sitting out the 4-1 win at Granada on Saturday through suspension, while Gerard Pique, Samuel Umtiti and Andres Iniesta were all handed recalls by head coach Luis Enrique.
As for Sevilla, Vicente Iborra was recalled to the middle of the park, while Sergio Escudero also returned after serving a one-game suspension. Gabriel Mercado was also passed fit to start as the visitors lined up with a five-man defence.
The home side came close to making the breakthrough in the fourth minute when Messi curled a sensational effort towards the top corner after working some space in a forward position, but the Argentine's effort hit the underside of the crossbar and the danger was eventually cleared.
Sevilla hardly had a sniff in the opening 10 minutes as Barcelona continued to force the issue, and Sergio Rico was forced to pluck a dangerous Neymar cross out of the air following another impressive passing move, before the away side's goalkeeper made a smart stop to keep out a low strike from Iniesta.
Sevilla's first opportunity of the match arrived in the 16th minute when Steven N'Zonzi beat Javier Mascherano to a loose ball inside the Barcelona box before attempting to pick out the bottom corner, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen was on hand to make a smart save, before Ivan Rakitic headed wide of the post down the other end moments later.
The visitors had another big chance in the 24th minute when Samir Nasri picked out the head of Vitolo with an excellent free kick, but the Spain international could only send his effort over the crossbar.
Barcelona were always dangerous, however, and the hosts took the lead in the 25th minute when Luis Suarez sent an overhead kick past Rico after being the first to react to a high ball inside the Sevilla box.
Three minutes later, Enrique's side doubled their lead at Camp Nou as Messi turned a low Luis Suarez cross into the back of the net after Rakitic had led a four-on-three counter-attack in favour of the Spanish champions, who were threatening to run riot against a Sevilla team lacking in confidence.
It went from bad to worse for Sevilla in the 33rd minute when the away side failed to clear a corner from Rakitic, and Messi was on hand to thump a half-volley into the bottom corner to put the result beyond doubt before the interval.
Messi had the chance to complete his hat-trick early in the second period after Luis Suarez had challenged Rico in a wide position and fed the Argentine, but the Sevilla goalkeeper got back to claim the ball at the vital moment.
Sevilla boss Jorge Sampaoli introduced both Matias Kranevitter and Pablo Sarabia at the break in a bid to stem the flow of traffic, and the double substitution did seem to work as the visitors gained a foothold in the game approaching the 60-minute mark at Camp Nou.
Sarabia might have registered for the visitors in the 62nd minute after breaking into the Barcelona box, but Ter Stegen was on hand to make a smart save as the score remained 3-0, before Sarabia hit the side-netting with another effort moments later.
Luis Suarez was replaced for the final 25 minutes as Enrique took the chance to rest the Uruguay international, but there was still plenty happening at Camp Nou, with Sarabia again testing Ter Stegen from distance, and Iniesta missing the chance to make it 4-0 after being found by Messi inside the Sevilla box.
Both managers looked to their bench in the final 15 minutes as Sevilla continued to threaten a goal, although the away side's goalkeeper Rico had to make a smart save to prevent Paco Alcacer from scoring a fourth for Barcelona 12 minutes from time.
The end-to-end nature of the contest continued into the latter stages, but it ended on another sour note for Sevilla, who had Vitolo sent off in the 91st minute after the Spaniard picked up his second yellow card for a rash challenge on Neymar.
Next up for Barcelona is a trip to Malaga on Saturday, while Sevilla's battle to overcome their recent blip will continue at home to Deportivo La Coruna on the same night.
Matt Law
