Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 victory over Levante to reclaim pole position in La Liga on Sunday.
After Real Madrid fell to a 2-1 defeat at Osasuna on Saturday, Hansi Flick’s side moved a point clear of their bitter rivals with a comfortable victory at Camp Nou against the team in 19th place.
Marc Bernal and Frenkie de Jong gave Barca a commanding first-half lead and Fermin Lopez wrapped up the win with a sensational drive late on.
Barcelona were glad to get back to winning ways after a 4-0 thrashing by Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg last week and then a 2-1 defeat by Girona on Monday in La Liga.
“It was a really bad moment for us but in the end today we gave a good response,” Flick told reporters after the match.
“It’s important now to be on top of the table but in the end there’s a long way to go,” he added.
Despite Flick’s calls for improvement in defence, Barca were as open as ever, although Levante’s poor finishing meant they could not capitalise.
Defeat leaves Levante seven points from safety.
“In the first half we had some chances that, if we put them away, could have got them to doubt themselves,” said Levante midfielder Carlos Alvarez.
“If we’d have gone in front, who knows what could have happened.”
Earlier Sevilla earned a 1-0 win at Getafe, while Celta Vigo defeated Mallorca 2-0, leaving the islanders in 18th place.
Valencia are 16th, two points above the drop zone after they lost 2-1 in an east coast derby clash at Villarreal, who are third.
Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side trail leaders Barcelona by 10 points, making a title challenge unlikely, but their win helped them move three points ahead of Atletico Madrid in fourth place.
Villarreal came from behind after Largie Ramazani opened the scoring from the penalty spot for Valencia.
Santi Comesana pulled the hosts level and Pape Gueye secured the victory with a penalty taken just before the half time break.
Valencia came close to equalising late on but Villarreal held out to triumph.
