Atletico make it 10 unbeaten with win, Barcelona score five

Barcelona (dpa) – Atletico Madrid extended their unbeaten La Liga run to 10 games with a 2-1 win away at Granada on Saturday.

Diego Simeone’s side are now eight points clear of second placed Barcelona who thrashed Alaves 5-1 later at the Camp Nou.

Atletico took the lead against Granada through Marcos Llorente on 63 minutes.

Luis Suarez had previously been denied on several occasions by Granada keeper Rui Silva and he had hit the crossbar as Atletico dominated.

After Llorente gave Atletico the lead they allowed Yangel Herrera to equalize three minutes later.

But when Angel Correa’s shot deflected in off of Jesus Vallejo’s clearance on 75 minutes the points were secured.

“Coming off the back of our last draw we really wanted the win,” said Correa. “We know we still have to get better in what’s left of the season but we are on the right road.”

Asked about Suarez, who had endured an off-day in front of goal, Simeone said: “We need all our strikers to give everything.

“Luis, more than just for his goals, has so much football intelligence.”

With Suarez not scoring, Lionel Messi had the chance to close the gap on him in the race to finish top scorer in La Liga and with a brace the Argentine now has 15 goals to the Uruguayan’s 16.

Francisco Trincao got the first for Barcelona against Alaves when he buried a shot past Fernando Pacheco after being teed-up by Ilaix Moriba.

Ilaix was making his debut aged just 18 years and 25 days and the assist set Barcelona on their way.

Messi got the second just before the break with a shot from outside the area that went in off the post.

But Alaves found a way back into the game when substitute Luis Rioja capitalized on an error by Ilaix to make it 2-1 at start of the second period.

Just as it seemed Alaves might find a way back into the match Trincao made it 3-1 on 74 minutes and Messi added his second of the game a minute later.

There was still time for Messi to create a fifth. His lofted pass over the top allowed Antoine Griezmann to cross and Junior Firpo to smash the ball into the roof of the net.

Barcelona midfielder Riqui Puig said: “This is just what we needed before the game against Paris Saint Germain and now we can’t wait to begin preparing for that match.

“We found it more difficult early on but once we had scored they had to come out and the space opened up for us.”

Barcelona had started the game with Puig, Busquets and 18-year-old debutant Ilaix as a midfield trio all brought through the club’s youth system.

“I’ve got confidence in all the players and we need them all,” said Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman. “We are creating so many chances to score goals and that gives us an advantage over other teams.

“It’s difficult to explain why we got five in this game and why we didn’t score four away from home against Alaves.

“It was not normal earlier in the season when we were not taking our chances but now the team looks more confident and is making more of the chances and that is a good sign.”

Elsewhere on Saturday fourth placed Sevilla beat Huesca 1-0 thanks to a Munir El Haddadi goal and Eibar drew 1-1 with Valladolid.