BARCELONA — Luis Suarez continued his goal splurge by scoring four times to help Barcelona stay atop the Spanish league Saturday, while Real Madrid needed a stellar performance from Gareth Bale to remain in the title hunt.
Suarez scored his eighth goal in four days to fuel a 6-0 rout of Sporting Gijon, following another four-goal outing in an 8-0 destruction of Deportivo La Coruna Wednesday. The Spanish league said Suarez was the first player to ever score four goals in back-to-back matches.
While Bale managed only half as many, his two goals were critical to lead a 3-2 fightback at Rayo Vallecano in a match that Madrid entered without Cristiano Ronaldo and finished without Karim Benzema due to leg injuries.
Barcelona stayed level on points with Atletico Madrid, which ground out another no-nonsense win, 1-0 over Malaga following the sending off of coach Diego Simeone at halftime.
Madrid remained a point behind in third place with three rounds left.
Barcelona holds tiebreakers against both challengers and will get more rest while Atletico and Madrid appear in the Champions League semifinals.
With back-to-back wins by a combined score of 14-0, Barcelona has reestablished its command of a competition it looked set to win easily before a stunning run of four rounds without a win threw the race open.
“We have turned around a very negative dynamic,” Barcelona manager Luis Enrique said. “Of the three title candidates, we are in the best position, but we have no margin for error.”
Suarez’s goals at Camp Nou, which all came in the second half and twice from the penalty spot, took him to the top of the league scorers’ list with 34, moving past Ronaldo’s 31.
Lionel Messi opened the scoring for Barcelona, while Neymar added a third penalty against an error-prone Sporting that remained in the relegation zone.
Suarez, who surpassed his 31 for Liverpool that led the English Premier League in 2013-14, gave credit to Messi and Andres Iniesta, who combined to set him up for his first goal in the 63rd.
Penalties committed by three different Sporting players let Suarez and Neymar make it a blowout before Ognjen Vranjes left Sporting a man down after receiving his second booking. Suarez fired in his fourth off the post in the 88th to take his overall tally to 53 goals this campaign.
Atletico was unfazed by Simeone being banished to watch the second half from the stands as a punishment for a ball being thrown onto the pitch from the dugout.
Malaga defended well until substitute Angel Correa went on. Five minutes later the attacking midfielder struck a long ball that took a deflection to bend around goalie Guillermo Ochoa for the 62nd-minute winner.
Also, Eibar drew at home with Deportivo La Coruna 1-1.
Inter beats Udinese
Stevan Jovetic scored twice and Inter Milan beat Udinese 3-1 in Serie A Saturday to keep alive its hopes of catching Roma for the final Champions League spot.
With three matches remaining, fourth-place Inter moved within four points of Roma, which hosts second-place Napoli Monday.
The match marked the first time in Serie A history that neither squad featured an Italian in their starting lineup.
Juventus, which visits Fiorentina Sunday, can clinch a fifth straight title if it gains more points than Napoli in this round. — Agencies
