La Liga Review: Barcelona, Madrid post big wins

Real Madrid remain hot on the tails of Barcelona after Saturday’s La Liga action, with both sides posting big wins.

Luis Suarez scored four goals for the second time in three days as title holders Barcelona stayed in command of the Liga title race with a 6-0 rout of struggling Sporting Gijon.

Lionel Messi opened the scoring with a looping header early on, before Suarez once again took centre stage after the break to take his goal tally to an incredible 53 in all competitions this season.

The Uruguayan reached his half-century by finishing a fine team move shortly after the hour, before netting two quick-fire penalties to complete his hat-trick.

Neymar then got in on the act with a penalty of his own after drawing a foul that saw Ognjen Vranjes sent off, before Suarez fired in his fourth of the evening with two minutes left.

Saturday’s scheduling meant that the top three played one after the other, with Barca reclaiming top spot in style after both Real and Atletico Madrid had short spells at the summit thanks to wins over Rayo Vallecano and Malaga respectively.

Gareth Bale scored the winner on his return from a back problem as Real Madrid came from two goals down to beat Vallecano 3-2, despite losing Karim Benzema to injury.

Madrid were 2-0 down in just 14 minutes, but salvaged the points thanks to Bale’s brace and Lucas Vasquez.

Elsewhere, Atletico scored a crucial 1-0 win over Malaga courtesy of an Angel Correa strike.

Barca and Atletico are now once again locked on points, with Madrid lurking one point further back with three games remaining.

In the day’s other game, Deportivo La Coruna held Eibar to a 1-1 draw.