Lionel Messi helped set up two goals to beat 10-man Eibar 2-0 on Saturday as Barcelona warmed up for its visit to Chelsea in the Champions League.
Barcelona broke its mini-skid of back-to-back draws to remain unbeaten in the Spanish league through 24 rounds and extend its advantage over second-place Atletico Madrid to 10 points.
Barcelona visits Stamford Bridge on Tuesday in the opening leg of their round-of-16 tie.
Messi threaded a weight-perfect pass past three defenders to leave Luis Suarez all alone in the 16th minute.
Suarez used a feint to bring goalkeeper Marco Dmitrovic to the turf before netting his 17th goal in the competition. Only Messi, with 20, has more in La Liga this season.
Messi played a big part in Jordi Alba’s goal in the 88th, when he forced a save from Dmitrovic and Alba was free to finish it off.
Suarez’s goal came against the flow of the match. Pressing up the pitch and setting a fast pace, Eibar forwards Fabian Orellana, Takashi Inui and midfielder Joan Jordan threatened the visitors on several occasion in the first half.
Orellana went the closest for the Basque club when he looped a shot over goalie Marc-Andre ter Stegen, only for the ball to hit the crossbar in the 19th.
Messi also sent a ball off the woodwork in the 37th after another of his passes sprung Suarez, who returned the ball to this partner.
Orellana damaged his team’s chances of a comeback when he earned bookings in the 57th and 66th. The first card was for a a needless tackle that cut down Andres Iniesta. Orellana compounded that mistake when he batted a ball into the air with play stopped and the referee waiting for Eibar to return the ball to Barcelona to take a free kick.
Eibar coach Jose Luis Mendilibar was also sent off minutes later for protesting when the referee did not book Suarez for lightly kicking the ball after play had stopped for an offside call.
Despite playing a man down, Eibar still managed to make Barcelona work. Inui had two attempts that required saves from Ter Stegen until Alba secured the three points.
The loss was only the second for Eibar in its last 13 matches. The small club, which has been among the best teams in Spain over the past three months, remained in seventh place.
Sevilla warmed up for its Champions League clash with Manchester United by winning 2-1 at Las Palmas, although it was aided by a controversial late offside call.
Real Madrid youth product Pablo Sarabia produced a great piece of skill to make space for a 35th-minute shot that was saved by Las Palmas goalkeeper Leandro Chichizola, and Wissam Ben Yedder netted the loose ball to put Sevilla ahead.
Sarabia then turned in a cross by languid Argentine Franco Vazquez to double Sevilla’s lead five minutes into the second half in Gran Canaria.
However, Jonathan Calleri pulled one back for Las Palmas from the penalty spot after Alen Halilovic had been fouled by Miguel Layun, the Mexican former Watford full-back.
And the islanders were denied a 93rd-minute equaliser when an extremely tight offside call went against them — Alejandro Galvez looked to be level with the last defender before putting the ball in the net. Las Palmas remains in the relegation zone.
Girona continued to impress in its debut season in La Liga beating Leganes 3-0 for a fourth consecutive home win on Friday.
Christian Stuani and Cristian ‘Portu’ Portugues added to their team-leading goal tallies with strikes to decide the result before half-time.
Stuani converted a penalty in the 23rd minute after Martin Mantovani used his hand to divert a cross destined for the Girona striker.
Portu doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 36th after he led a solo counterattack and blasted the ball over goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar from a tight angle.
Juan Ramirez claimed the last with a header at the end.
The results: Saturday: La Liga: Las Palmas 1 (Calleri 82-pen) lost to Sevilla 2 (Ben Yedder 35, Sarabia 50); Eibar 0 lost to Barcelona 2 (Suarez 16, Alba 88).
Serie A: Udinese 0 lost to AS Roma 2 (Under 70, Perotti 90+1).
Bundesliga: Cologne 1 (Osaka 29) drew with Hannover 96 1 (Fullkrug 37); Hamburg 1 (Hahn 71) lost to Bayer Leverkusen 2 (Bailey 40, Havertz 50); Freiburg 1 (Petersen 24-pen) bt Werder Bremen 0; Wolfsburg 1 (Didavi 8) lost to Bayern Munich 2 (Wagner 64, Lewandowski 90+1-pen).
Friday: La Liga: Girona 3 (Stuani 23-pen, Portu 36, Juanpe 85) bt Leganes 0.
Bundesliga: Hertha Berlin 0 lost to Mainz 2 (Quaison 40, 65).