Barcelona: A Lionel Messi brace and a Xavi header were enough to give Barcelona a much-deserved 3-0 victory over a lacklustre Racing Santander at Camp Nou on Saturday evening.
Argentine international Gonzalo Higuain netted a hat trick in Real Madrid's 4-1 win over Real Betis as the Los Blancos provisionally moved ahead of their fierce rivals, but Messi kept the defending champions top of the standings and a point ahead of Madrid with a goal in each half.
With 196 goals for Barcelona in all competitions, Messi moved past Laszlo Kubala (194) into sole possession of second place on the club career scoring list, behind only Cesar Rodriguez (235).
"The only thing I have to do is give him a shirt with the No. 10 on the back and send him out to play," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said about Messi, who has 16 goals in 12 games overall this season and leads the Spanish league with 10 goals - two more than Higuain.
As was expected against a team that had only won twice ever at Camp Nou stadium, Pep Guardiola's side were in charge of the game from the kick-off, although the European Champions had to cope with the early exit of defender Gerard Pique, who walked off with an injury to his right thigh.
Pique had only recently returned from a muscle injury in his left leg and Barcelona are already without new signings Cesc Fabregas and Alexis Sanchez due to muscle tears.
Andres Iniesta, himself just back from a leg injury, cued Barcelona's 11th-minute opener though, as their possession paid off. Iniesta picked up the ball just inside the Racing box on the right-hand side and reversed a pass into Lionel Messi, who, with six defenders around him, flicked the ball out of trouble and dragged it past Tono before finishing from a tight angle.
Barcelona grabbed their second goal of the match in the 27th minute and it was far too simple for the hosts from a Racing point of view. Pedro Rodriguez picked up the ball on the left hand-side and clipped a lovely cross into the edge of the six-yard box for Xavi, who ghosted in unmarked to guide a header into the bottom right corner.
It should have been three for Barcelona in the 36th minute when Xavi found space on the right hand-side of the Racing box and slipped a pass through to Pedro, who got to the byline and crossed along the goal for Carles Puyol, but the Barcelona captain somehow scuffed his shot from a yard out and Tono in the Racing goal managed to gather.
In the second half, Racing appeared more concerned with not receiving a thrashing than scoring
Barca took the game far beyond Racing in the 68th minute when Andres Iniesta showed incredible skill in the box to neatly juggle the ball over two challenges before rifling a left-footed half volley off the right-hand post before Lionel Messi smashed in the rebound for his second goal of the match.
"We figured out how to get ahead in the first half and that helped us the rest of the way," said Barcelona midfielder Thiago Alcantara, whose team has outscored its league opponents at Camp Nou this season 21-0.
In front of a vibrant Camp Nou crowd, the hosts dominated the match for most of the 90 minutes, and should have added to their lead on a few occasions. David Villa should have done better in the 82nd minute when he found some room just inside the Racing box to the right but ended up blazing the ball over the bar. Eric Abidal also came close minutes later when he attempted the spectacular overhead kick from eight yards out but Tono managed to make the save.
This result shoots Barcelona straight back to the top of La Liga on 17 points after their third straight win, whereas Racing find themselves still on four points and languishing in the relegation zone.
Also on Saturday, Valencia was held to a 1-1 draw at Mallorca, while Villarreal drew 0-0 at Getafe as both teams continue to disappoint. Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid played out a goalless draw with Granada.
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