TITLE’S RON STEP TOO FAR NOW

BARCELONA moved 14 points clear of Real Madrid in La Liga as three second-half goals wrapped up a convincing victory at the Bernabeu.

Zinedine Zidane’s men actually had the better of a tight first period.

But Barcelona took full control in the second half. The mercurial Luis Suarez swept home the opener before a Lionel Messi penalty effectively took the game beyond Real.

It was a strange spot-kick award by referee Jose Maria Sanchez Martinez, who could simply have awarded a goal rather than a penalty after Dani Carvajal handled on the line but then knocked the ball in as he lost his footing.

The incident also saw Carvajal sent off.

Substitute Aleix Vidal added a third in stoppage time and the title now looks almost certain to return to the Nou Camp as La Liga prepares to enter its winter break.

This was Real’s heaviest defeat to

Barca since they were thrashed 4-0 while

Rafael Benitez was manager.

But unlike then there were no cries for a revolution, the home fans just glumly accepted their defeat.

Meanwhile, Barca’s small pocket of away fans, tucked up in the top tier, chanted, “Visca Barca, visca Catalunya”. World Footballer of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo (left) looked a disconsolate figure as he trooped off the field at the end of the contest.

Yet the game had almost started in the perfect fashion for him. He headed in off the underside of the bar in the second minute only to see the goal rightly disallowed for offside.