The Catalans were at their free-flowing best as goals from Andres Iniesta and Samuel Eto'o before the break and Xavi and Thierry Henry in the second half sealed a thumping win.

With Lionel Messi and Carles Puyol watching from the bench,Pep Guardiola's took control of this game after just two minutes when Iniesta lobbed Javi Varas with a superb dipping effort from outside the box.

Eto'o made it two after 16 minutes and Barca moved out of sight after the break as Xavi curled a brilliant right-footed shot into the top corner in the 49th minute.

Henry slid home a fourth five minutes later as Barcelona made it a club record 92 league goals for the season, surpassing Johan Cruyff's legendary 'dream team' with six rounds of the championship still remaining.

Real Madrid had closed the gap last night when they snatched a dramatic 3-2 win over Getafe.

With Sevilla going down heavily, Valencia moved within three points of second place by winning 2-1 at Real Betis courtesy of a David Villa double.

The match seemed to be heading for a goaless draw before Villa scored his first in the 65th minute and added a second 14 minutes later.

Ricardo Oliveira grabbed one back three minutes from time for the hosts to set up a nervy finale.

Betis should have equalised in the dying seconds and Capi's miss could prove costly for them in their battle for Primera Division safety as Los Verdiblancos remain in 10th place but, in a tight bottom half of the table, are just seven points above the drop zone having played a game more.

Malaga reignited their hopes of playing European football next season after edging an incident-packed 3-2 win at Osasuna that produced four red cards.

The promoted Andalusian side had seen their unlikely bid for a Europa League spot take a dive after winning just one of their previous five games, but tonight's victory at the Reyno de Navarra has provisionally lifted them up to fifth spot above Atletico Madrid and Villarreal, who play their matches tomorrow.

The visitors led after just five minutes through Antonio Apono's penalty, but Osasuna turned the game on its head with goals from Jaroslav Plasil and Javad Nekounam.

The red cards then began to fly with home captain Patxi Punal dismissed four minutes before the break before Malaga's Jesus Gamez followed on the stroke of half-time.

Osasuna's Josetxo, who took the captain's armband from Punal, then saw the game's third red card midway through the second half.

Malaga capitalised this time as Manuel Lolo scored in the 72nd minute before Salva put them ahead five minutes later.

Osasuna's misery was completed with the late sending off of Krisztian Vadocz following a crunching late challenge on Apono.

Deportivo La Coruna kept alive their hopes of European football as second-half goals from Joan Verdu and Lassad Nouioui beat Almeria 2-0.

Verdu volleyed the home side in front just four minutes into the second period and Lassad sealed a deserved win for the Galicians when he drilled a low shot past Esteban Suarez after 68 minutes.

Deportivo's second successive win moves them to within a point of Malaga in fifth.