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A Neymar double, a spectacular volley from Luis Suarez and a goal for Lionel Messi saw top of the table Barcelona's unstoppable strike force sweep aside Real Sociedad 4-0 in La Liga on Saturday.
An early goal from the in-form Antoine Griezmann gave Atletico Madrid a 1-0 victory over Espanyol that keeps them four points behind Barca.
Neymar slotted home a Dani Alves cross after 22 minutes and Alves was again the provider for Suarez who acrobatically beat Real keeper Geronimo Rulli before halftime to take his tally to 11 goals in seven games.
La Liga's top scorer Neymar took his total to 14 this season as he knocked in a Jeremy Mathieu cross after 53 minutes and in injury time he set up Messi to score from close range.
Barca have 33 points from 13 games with Atletico Madrid on 29. Real Madrid, who were hammered 4-0 by Barca last weekend and are now nine points off the pace, play Eibar on Sunday.
Astonishingly, the trio's latest heroics meant that Messi, Neymar and Suarez have so far scored 125 goals between them in all competitions for Barca over the calendar year.
Meanwhile, Griezmann's goal earned a third straight league win for Atletico, who have now gone five games in all competitions without conceding a goal.
