Lionel Messi has continued his rich vein of form with a double as Barcelona beat Racing Santander 2-0, but the Catalan club still remain 10 points off La Liga leaders Real Madrid.
After scoring a remarkable five in the Champions League in midweek against a reeling Bayer Leverkusen, Messi found the net in both halves on Sunday, the second a strike from the penalty spot, taking his season’s league total to 30.
The Argentine still trails two goals behind Cristiano Ronaldo, who also hit a brace on Saturday as Real beat Real Betis 3-2 to maintain their surge towards what would be their first title since 2008.
Barca, without the injured Eric Abidal and suspended Gerard Pique, started with a three-man defence which included Carles Puyol who was finally passed fit.
They quickly began to dominate a struggling Racing side who have not won in eight matches and appointed Alvaro Cervera as the new coach last week to steer them to survival.
Messi had a free-kick tipped over by the keeper while Andres Iniesta hit the top of the crossbar with an excellent chip as Barca began to find a cutting edge.
Racing were battling hard, and on occasions went overboard with crude challenges, but they had no match for Barca’s movement and passing.
Cesc Fabregas had a shot well saved by the keeper before he set up Messi for the opening goal, with the Argentine sliding the ball home from the centre of the penalty area.
Barca were knocking the ball effortlessly through the midfield but had to wait until the 56th minute to go further ahead from the penalty spot. Domingo Cisma was adjudged to have pulled down Fabregas and Messi sent the keeper the wrong way from 12 yards.
Racing were unable to respond and Barca could have extended lead with Juan Cuenca hitting a post and Messi for once having his shot saved when one-on-one with the keeper.
Champions League-chasing Valencia continued to stutter as they squandered a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to Mallorca.
Valencia have now won just once in four games in the league and it is particularly their home form since Christmas which is the cause for concern as they look to maintain their third place, although they still have a four-point lead over Malaga, who beat Levante on Saturday.
They dominated the first half with Tino Costa’s deflected shot giving them the lead after 23 minutes and then doubled it three minutes before the break when Mallorca keeper Dudu Aouate made a hash of clearing a backpass, playing the ball to Aritz Aduriz, who slotted it home.
Mallorca had offered very little but got back into the game after 57 minutes when Emilio Nsue converted a through ball from Michael Pereira and then Victor Casadesus completed the turnaround minutes later.
Valencia had lost their shape amid whistles from the home fans and finished with ten men after Costa was dismissed for a two-footed challenge.
Espanyol and Atletico Madrid also kept in the hunt for a place in Europe with Espanyol beating Rayo Vallecano 5-1 at home and Atletico won 2-0 against Granada at the Calderon.