La Liga roundup: Messi sets new landmark as Barca edge closer to title

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Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored twice in two minutes as Barcelona broke the resistance of 10-man Atletico Madrid on Saturday to go 11 points clear of their La Liga title rivals.

Diego Costa was sent off in the 28th minute at Camp Nou after insulting referee Gil Manzano but while Atletico held on for almost another hour, Suarez and Messi struck late to seal a pivotal 2-0 win.

The victory leaves Barca almost out of sight with seven games left to play and maintains momentum ahead of Wednesday's trip to Manchester United in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals.

United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in the crowd along with his assistant Mike Phelan, but this was a familiar story of Barcelona's deadly duo delivering when it mattered most.

Costa's early and needless dismissal left Atletico needing a miracle just to avoid defeat, let alone pull off the win that their coach Diego Simeone had said last week was the only result to keep their challenge alive.

"I asked the referee and he told me Costa said something to him," Simeone said. "Other players have said things and not been sent off but that does not justify what Costa did."

The referee Martinez Munuera sends off Diego Costa (R) during the league clash between Barcelona and Atletico at Camp Nou on April 6, 2019. /VCG Photo

Suarez intervened with a superb long-range strike in the 85th minute, before Messi added a second in the 86th. The pair have now scored 53 league goals between them this season while for Messi, this was a record 335th La Liga victory.

Only a monumental collapse could now bring Atletico back into contention and more likely is Barca have earned themselves the luxury of resting players, around an even greater focus on success in Europe.

Elsewhere, Zinedine Zidane refused to guarantee Gareth Bale's future at Real Madrid after the Welshman struggled again in a 2-1 victory over Eibar on Saturday.

Karim Benzema scored twice at the Santiago Bernabeu as Madrid came from behind after Marc Cardona, starting only after an injury to Pedro Leon in the warm-up, gave Eibar a surprise lead.

But Madrid improved and a pair of Benzema headers ensured the groans and whistles that had soured the atmosphere for much of the opening hour turned to cheers and applause at the end.

Much of the frustration was again directed at Bale, who started here after being dropped by Zidane for the defeat to Valencia on Wednesday.

Gareth Bale (L) returns to the lineup during the game against Eibar but fails to impress. /VCG Photo

Asked afterwards if Bale would be at Real Madrid next season, Zidane said, "We'll see, I'm not going to tell you what's going to happen. Gareth is a Real Madrid player, he has two years left on his contract. We will see. It is not the time to talk about this."

Bale's below-par performances and a lack of support from either coach or fans seem so inter-linked now, it is difficult to know what comes first. He departed again to whistles with 14 minutes left, a conciliatory hand slap from Zidane offering little consolation as he trudged off.

Benzema's trajectory has been the opposite, the Frenchman now with six goals in five La Liga games, four of them since Zidane took over.

Wu Lei in action during the La Liga clash between Girona and Espanyol at Montilivi Stadium on April 6, 2019. /VCG Photo

Meanwhile, a stunning Sergi Darder striker and Yassine Bounou's stoppage-time own goal helped Espanyol edged past Girona 2-1 in the Catalan derby.

China's Wu Lei posed several attacking threats during the intense clash but he failed to find the net before being substituted in the 76th minute.

The victory has lifted Espanyol further away from the relegation zone, with only 9 points adrift of the top four.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters