MADRID — Lionel Messi struck twice as Barcelona recorded its first win in four La Liga games to close to within three points of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win at Osasuna.
Barca should have killed the game off in the first half as Luis Suarez and Messi missed two big chances each against La Liga's bottom side.
However, Suarez rounded off a fine team move to break the deadlock just before the hour before Messi's double in the final 17 minutes moved him ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga's top scorer with 11 for the season.
Real can extend its lead once more and set a new club record unbeaten run of 35 games when it hosts Deportivo la Coruna later Saturday.
"We are Barcelona and we know we can never give up," Suarez told BeIN Sports Spain.
"We are candidates to win the league, it doesn't matter if we are four, five, six or seven points behind, we won't give up."
Osasuna remains five points off safety.
Valencia remain above the relegation zone only on goal difference despite more penalty heroics from goalkeeper Diego Alves in a 3-2 defeat at Real Sociedad.
Bayern back to top as Leipzig loses
Champion Bayern Munich reclaimed top spot in the Bundesliga after crushing VfL Wolfsburg 5-0 Saturday as RB Leipzig slumped to its first loss of the season — a 1-0 defeat at Ingolstadt.
Arjen Robben put the dominant host ahead with a trademark move down the right and a superbly curled left-footed shot in the 22nd before Robert Lewandowski tapped in for a two-goal lead four minutes later.
The Pole replicated his move on the hour to turn in a Thomas Mueller shot before the attacking midfielder then turned scorer, finally breaking his goal drought this season after having failed to score for 999 minutes.
Brazilian Douglas Costa completed the rout in the 86th minute to lift Bayern to 33 points, ahead of Leipzig on goal difference.
Wolfsburg is just a point above the relegation zone in 15th place, without a win in its last four matches.
Promoted Leipzig's sensational start to the season came to a halt when Brazilian Roger's glancing first-half header earned struggling Ingolstadt only its second win of the campaign.
Borussia Dortmund continued its erratic domestic form and needed another late goal from Marco Reus, who brought his side back to 2-2 at Real Madrid in midweek, to snatch a 1-1 draw at Cologne and stay in sixth spot.
Hamburg SV had Lewis Holtby dismissed in the 44th minute for elbowing an opponent and Augsburg's Dominiko Kohr was sent off midway through the second half as the home side earned a scrappy 1-0 win to earn its second straight win and move up to 16th place.
