Barcelona have risen above Real Madrid to the top of the La Liga table courtesy of a 5-0 victory over 10-man Sporting Gijon in Saturday afternoon's clash at El Molinon.
Neymar (2) and Arda Turan added to first-half strikes from Luis Suarez and Rafinha as the Spanish champions collected all the points against a team that were reduced to 10 men in the second period when Alberto Lora received his marching orders.
Barcelona were without the services of Lionel Messi in Gijon, while Jordi Alba, Javier Mascherano, Andres Iniesta and Ivan Rakitic all dropped to the bench as Luis Enrique shuffled his pack ahead of their Champions League clash with Bundesliga outfit Borussia Monchengladbach next week.
As for Sporting, on-loan Barcelona defender Douglas was named on the bench against his parent club, while there were starts for Moi Gomez, Jorge Mere and Nacho Cases as head coach Abelardo Fernandez altered his selection.
It was an all-action start at El Molinon as Sporting looked to unsettle the visitors with a series of heavy challenges, and aside from an overhead kick from Neymar - which Ivan Cuellar saved - Barcelona struggled to get going in the opening 15 minutes of action.
Sporting's first sight of the Barcelona goal came in the 16th minute when Nacho met a low corner from Victor Rodriguez, but the midfielder turned wide of the post as the home side continued to impress against the champions.
Barcelona were just not comfortable as the first period continue to progress, with Sporting causing all sorts of problems in the final third when they broke with speed. The visitors did have a decent opportunity to make the breakthrough in the 27th minute when Andre Gomes cut inside before striking towards goal, but his effort was always high of the crossbar.
The opening goal did indeed arrive for the Catalan giants before the 30-minute mark, however, as Suarez beat Sporting goalkeeper Cuellar to a Turan through-ball before finishing from close range.
Less than three minutes later, Barcelona had a second as Sergi Roberto delivered a cross onto the head of Rafinha and the Brazilian found the bottom corner to stun the home side, who had made a very positive start to the match but found themselves trailing by two goals at the interval.
Sporting started the second period on the front foot as on-loan Real Madrid midfielder Burgui and Rodriguez continued to pick up possession in wide areas, but strong defending from Gerard Pique and Jeremy Mathieu prevented the hosts from hitting back.
Rodriguez had Sporting's first shot on target in the second half after breaking into the Barcelona box, but Ter Stegen was on hand to make the save as it remained 2-0 with little over 30 minutes of football to play in Gijon.
Barcelona had the ball in the back of the Sporting net for a third time just past the hour, but Mathieu's close-range effort was disallowed after Pique, who found the Frenchman, was ruled offside.
Both managers made changes as the match headed for its final 15 minutes, but Sporting's task became harder in the 74th minute when Lora picked up his second booking for a late challenge on Roberto, which left the hosts with 10 men.
Barcelona made use of their one-man advantage as Neymar scored a third in the 81st minute after Suarez had rattled the crossbar with a strike, before Turan headed a Roberto cross home from close range five minutes from time.
There was time for one more goal, meanwhile, as Denis Suarez slid a pass in to Neymar and the Brazilian scored his second of the match with a well-placed finish in the 88th minute.
Barcelona return to Champions League action on Wednesday night with a trip to Borussia Monchengladbach, before travelling to Celta Vigo in the league next weekend. Sporting, meanwhile, will attempt to return to winning ways then they visit Deportivo La Coruna next Saturday night.
Matt Law
