Barcelona took a giant step toward retaining the title in La Liga by beating nearest rival Atletico Madrid 2-0 at the Camp Nou on Saturday. Late goals from Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi opened up an 11-point lead at the top of the table, with Atleti undermined by temperamental striker Diego Costa receiving a red card in the first half.
Earlier, a Karim Benzema double helped Real Madrid beat Eibar and rebound from losing in Valencia on Wednesday. Speaking of Valencia, Los Che suffered a damaging defeat in their pursuit of a top-four finish after losing to relegation-threatened Rayo Vallecano.