Barcelona cruised to a 3-0 away win over Celta de Vigo at the Estadio Municipal de Balaidos to keep the current La Liga champions four points clear of second place Atletico Madrid.
The win also gives Gerardo Martino's men a temporary nine point gap ahead of rivals Real Madrid who they defeated in the first El Clasico for the season over the weekend.
The home defeat for Celta de Vigo leaves them struggling without a home win so far this season, despite putting in a good performance against the current champions.
Barcelona started off stronger of the two sides with Cesc Fabregas testing Celta goalkeeper Yoel Rodríguez with less than 10 minutes on the clock only for Alexis Sanchez to slot in the rebound.
The Chilean forward got opened the scoring for the Catalan giants after he had scored a delightful chip in Saturday’s El Clasico.
Lionel Messi then had a chance of his own, after combining well with the goal scorer Sanchez; the Argentine superstar had his shot blocked well by the home side’s defence.
The home side did not just sit back and created chances of their own, Charles ran onto a through ball from Borja Oubiña with 27 minutes played, and hit a right-footed shot which was saved by Barca keeper Victor Valdes.
Barca took a one goal lead into the half-time break, but just three minutes after the restart they doubled their advantage.
Cesc Fabregas linked well with Messi and Alex Song before taking a curling effort from the edge of the box, the midfielders shot struck the upright but came back off shot-stopper Rodríguez’s back, and went over the line for a fortunate second for the visitors.
The game was all but over in the 54th minute when Fabregas was played in by Messi and slotted home clinically with a left-footed shot giving Rodríguez no chance.
On-loan Barca forward Nolito came closest for Celta in the second-half but his strike cannoned off the woodwork before Rodríguez pulled off a fine save to prevent Messi from getting on the score-sheet with a few minutes remaining.
Gerardo Martino's team remain unbeaten so far this campaign and look like overwhelming favourites to retain their title.
