In a battle between two teams who had already qualified for the knockout stages, Barca came out on top in a goal-laden encounter thanks to strikes from Thierry Henry, Gerard Pique, Lionel Messi, Bojan Krkic and an own goal.

It was mission accomplished for Barca, who can now concentrate on the Primera Liga where they face a testing run of matches in their bid to stay in top spot up until the winter break.

This weekend Barca, who hold a three-point lead at the summit, travel to fifth-placed Sevilla, before then facing Valencia, Real Madrid and Villarreal - all teams in the top four - in their final three games before Christmas.

Pique said: "Now we have to face league games against those at the top and we have to obtain the maximum amount of points possible."

Barca travelled to Portugal for the Sporting match having been held 1-1 at home by Getafe in the league at the weekend.

That draw ended a run of nine successive league victories and led to renewed suggestions that the Catalan giants are overly dependent on playmaker Messi, who missed the match through injury.

Messi was back last night to help Barca record another high-scoring victory, but the Argentinian insists they are no one-man team.

"I don't think the team depend on me. We have sufficient players to do well and we work as a team. It doesn't matter who is on the pitch," said Messi, who hopes he can remain fit for the upcoming weeks.

"I had a small scare during the week, but I'm fine. If everything goes well I will play the next matches, which are difficult because now come the top teams and it is important to win them so we can continue as leaders."

Striker Henry added: "There are no doubts here. What happened against Getafe can happen now and again, but we didn't lose the game and we didn't play badly.

"This (against Sporting) was a match in a different competition. We want to be first in the group and we have achieved it."