Barca hit back with a vengeance
DEMOLITION Luis Suarez scores four as Catalans crush Deportivo 8-0 to bury demons of past few matches
BARCELONA: A red hot Luis Suarez scored four goals and contributed three assists as Barcelona’s stuttering La Liga title charge sparked back to life with a spectacular 8-0 thrashing of Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday.
Three successive defeats had put the brakes on Barcelona’s title pursuit but Suarez’s goal burst ended that losing run, while their closest challengers Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid made sure they stayed in the hunt with victories over Athletic Bilbao and Villarreal respectively.
Real Madrid’s 3-0 win over Villarreal came at a cost though as Cristiano Ronaldo was seen limping off the pitch clutching his thigh though Real manager Zinedine Zidane later sought to play down the seriousness of the injury.
Atletico secured a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao thanks to a first half header from Fernando Torres but they too suffered an injury setback with defender Diego Godin forced off in the ninth minute with a suspected hamstring injury.
Barca lead Atletico due to their superior head-to-head record, with both teams on 79 points with four games remaining. Third-placed Real Madrid are a point adrift.
Uruguayan Suarez was unstoppable on Wednesday as he took his goal tally to 49 in all competitions. He gave Barca a two-goal cushion at the break by scoring in the 11th and 24th minutes.
He then provided the cross for Ivan Rakitic to grab the third in the 48th. Suarez completed his hattrick five minutes later and netted his fourth in the 64th. Lionel Messi, Marc Bartra and Neymar rounded off the scoring late on.
Barca coach Luis Enrique praised his team’s efficiency in front of goal but said the performance was not any better than in the 2-1 defeat to Valencia last Sunday.
“This time we had infinite solutions and we moved the ball around midfield really well, but I insist that we did the same against Valencia and look at the result,” he said.“We have a marvellous challenge in front of us and we are better prepared for it after this spectacular result.”