Barcelona ensured they will be at least a point clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga when they host their arch rivals in next Sunday’s clásico after Lionel Messi struck twice in a 2-0 win at Eibar.
Last week Barça overtook stuttering Real, who host Levante on Sunday, into first place and they produced another dominant performance inspired by the talismanic Messi to move on to 65 points with 11 games remaining, in a game marked by Xavi extending his club appearance record to 750 when he came on as a second-half substitute.
With Andrés Iniesta also on the bench, Messi captained the side and put his side ahead in the 31st minute at the tiny Ipurua stadium in the Basque country when he scored a penalty after Borja Ekiza handled the Argentina forward’s shot.
Messi added a second effort 10 minutes into the second half when he nodded in an Ivan Rakitic corner, his 32nd La Liga goal of the campaign and his 43rd in all competitions, two more than he managed in the whole of an injury-disrupted 2013-14. He has scored at least twice in 120 matches for club and country, 112 for Barcelona and eight for Argentina.
To their credit, Eibar, playing in La Liga for the first time this season, refused to capitulate to their illustrious visitors and the forward Federico Piovaccari struck a shot against the crossbar late on.
“It was a very good, solid performance against a team that caused us a lot of problems,” said Barça’s coach, Luis Enrique. “We will go into the game [against Real] as leaders and in perfect shape.”
Messi’s scintillating form also bodes well for Wednesday’s Champions League last-16 return match at home to Manchester City when Barça will defend a 2-1 lead from last month’s first leg.
Atlético Madrid, by contrast, are struggling for goals before the La Liga champions seek to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Bayer Leverkusen in Europe’s elite club competition on Tuesday.
Atlético surrendered third place to Valencia when they had Miranda sent off for a brutal challenge in first-half added time and were held to a 0-0 draw at mid-table Espanyol. The Madrid side had the better chances at the Cornella-El Prat stadium in Barcelona before Miranda was shown a straight red card when the centre-back felled Abraham with an arm as the pair jumped for a bouncing ball.
Atlético have 56 points, one behind Valencia, who won 2-0 at home to Deportivo La Coruña on Friday while fifth-placed Sevilla (49) can close to within four points of Atlético by beating Elche on Sunday.
