La Coruna (Spain), April 21 (IANS) Defending champions FC Barcelona got some of their swagger back after a brutal stretch of games lead all but evaporate, routing Deportivo La Coruna 8-0 at Riazor Stadium.
Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez had the biggest impact, scoring four goals and assisting on three others as the Catalans won their first Spanish-league game since a 6-0 victory over Getafe on March 12 here on Wednesday, reports Efe.
That four-match winless drought seemed to weigh on the Barcelona players and led to some early jitters, particularly on the defensive end, prompting head coach Luis Enrique to instruct his back line to push higher and employ an offside trap to neutralise Depor’s main goal-scoring threat, Lucas Perez.
Suarez, however, put his team-mates at ease with two scores in the opening half, the first off a corner kick by Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic in the 11th minute and the second after receiving a pass from Lionel Messi in the 24th minute.
The floodgates then opened in the second half, with Barcelona making it 3-0 with a goal from Rakitic two minutes after the end of intermission and then getting two more scores from Suarez in the 53rd and 64th minutes.
Messi, Marc Bartra and Neymar also scored goals over the final 20 minutes against the overmatched home side.
Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which knocked the Catalans out of the Champions League last week and defeated Athletic Bilbao 1-0 on Wednesday, remain at the top of the Spanish league with 79 points apiece. Barcelona holds the top spot based on the basis of their results of their head-to-head matches this season.