Barcelona's holy trinity of Neymar, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi
all scored as Barcelona comfortably swept aside Real Sociedad 4-0 at the Nou
Camp Saturday.
The South
American attacking triumvirate was playing its first home La Liga match
together since Messi suffered knee ligament damage in September.
And the
diminutive Argentine had to wait in line behind the Brazil's Neymar and
Uruguay's Suarez, who have scored goals aplenty in the interim, for his moment
Saturday.
A fleet-footed
Neymar burst in front of the Sociedad defense to open the scoring after 22
minutes before a spectacular Suarez volley doubled the advantage just before
halftime.
Neymar grabbed
his second at the start of the second period before laying on Messi in injury
time to round off the scoring.
The result
marks the second straight La Liga game in which Barca has scored four goals
without conceding. The Catalans thrashed title rival Real Madrid by the same
score last weekend.
Saturday's win initially put Barca seven points ahead at the top
of the La Liga table. But that deficit was cut back down to four by
second-placed Atletico Madrid which beat Espanyol 1-0 later Saturday.
Third-paced Real
Madrid, which plays sixth-placed Eibar on Sunday, is five points further back
in the standings.
Speaking to
reporters after the game, Barca boss Luis Enrique was quick to praise his team
and its rich vein of form.
However, he was
keen to emphasize that there is much football still to be played before
trophies are handed out in May and June.
"It is not
a cliche, there is a long way to go and we will all drop points between now and
the end of the season," Enrique said in quotes carried by the AFP news
agency.
"That we
are in a good moment is undoubtable and that the players are enjoying it is
evident. But the players are very intelligent.
"There is
no team in the world that has won a league in November or December,"
Enrique added.
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