Lionel Messi grabbed a brace as Barcelona cruised to a resounding 5-2 victory away at 10-man Athletic Bilbao in La Liga this evening.

The victory now sees Barca move three points closer to Real Madrid in the league standings, with Carlo Ancelotti's men leading by just one point at the summit.

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The visitors took the lead after 15 minutes had been played when Messi fired in a free kick that took a deflection off a Bilbao player on its way into the back of the net.

Athletic thought they had pulled level when Iker Muniain turned in a brilliant ball for Aritz Aduriz, only for the striker to see his shot saved in the centre of goal.

Bilbao stopper Gorka Iraizoz was next to get into the thick of the action as he pulled off a wonderful stop to keep out an effort from Suarez after the Argentine had been found by Messi's enticing ball.

The away side continued to press and they soon got their second goal of the game through Suarez, who thundered an effort low into the corner.

Athletic should have grabbed themselves a lifeline before the half-time whistle, but Aduriz's header smashed back off the post as he sought to make the most of some poor defending from Gerard Pique.

The home side did grab one goal back following the interval when Mikel Rico reacted quickest to a saved effort to smash into the net and make it 2-1.

Barcelona soon restored their two-goal advantage as Messi returned again to bundle one home from Suarez's cross in the 62nd minute.

Luis Enrique's men seemingly sealed the three points just two minutes later with a fourth goal, this time as Brazilian forward Neymar slid his attempt past Iraizoz after Messi's delivery.

Bilbao looked to encourage a tense finish when a frenzied period came to its conclusion with an Aduriz's effort from a tight angle to move the score to 4-2.

The hosts saw their hopes of pulling off an unlikely comeback reduced with 15 minutes remaining, however, as Xabier Etxeita was shown a red card for a poor challenge on Suarez.

Barca came back to add a fifth in the dying embers of the game thanks to Pedro, who tucked in from close range having been picked out by Sergio Busquets.