Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as Barcelona came from behind in the absence of the injured Lionel Messi to beat Basque minnows Eibar 3-1 on Sunday. Victory takes Barca level with Real Madrid on 21 points, but Los Blancos remain on top thanks to their superior goal difference.
The on-form Borja Baston fired Eibar into a shock lead just 10 minutes in at the Camp Nou, but Suarez restored parity with a bullet header and then put Barca in front just after the break.
Eibar were handed a lifeline when Javier Mascherano saw a straight red card for protesting with the referee seven minutes from time. But Suarez promptly sealed his hat-trick and a vital three points with another fine finish from Neymar's pass to celebrate a year since he made his Barca debut.
“You celebrate wins like this in a different way. It is special because I made my debut a year ago,” said Suarez. “We went behind again, which complicated the game and it is something we have to start looking at.”
There was a moment of reflection before kick-off as the Barcelona players entered the field wearing orange t-shirts to honour legendary former Barca player and coach Johan Cruyff, who was diagnosed with lung cancer this week.
Atletico Madrid moved up to third, two points behind the leaders, thanks to goals from Jackson Martinez and Yannick Ferreira Carrasco in a 2-1 win over Valencia. At the Vicente Calderon, Atletico produced arguably their best display of the season to see of an underwhelming Valencia to keep themselves in touch with the big two.
Real Sociedad eased the pressure on former Manchester United manager David Moyes as the Basques thrashed Levante 4-0 on Sunday to move three points clear of the relegation zone. Former Arsenal forward Carlos Vela opened and rounded off the scoring either side of goals from Imanol Agirretxe and Asier Illaramendi.
Villarreal's dip in form continued as their winless run stretched to three games in a disappointing 0-0 draw at Las Palmas.
In the Bundesliga, Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang netted a hat-trick on Sunday as Borussia Dortmund ran riot in a 5-1 home win over bottom side Augsburg to stay second.
Dortmund trimmed the gap at the top to seven points behind run-away leaders Bayern Munich as Aubameyang took his tally to 13 goals in 10 league games to become the joint top-scorer alongside Bayern's Robert Lewandowski.
“I have no secret, but I bet with my brother yesterday that I would score three goals, no joke, I have already had a few messages about it,” revealed Aubameyang when asked what is the secret of his goal-scoring success. “The hat-trick is for my little son. I try to enjoy myself on the field. Sometimes you have good times when you can try everything and it comes off.”
Ten-man Schalke stay third despite their 3-1 defeat at Borussia Monchengladbach, who earned their fifth straight win under caretaker coach Andre Schubert which has taken them from bottom to seventh in the table.
On Saturday, Arjen Robben netted on his return from injury as Bayern Munich romped to a 4-0 home win against Cologne to claim their 10th straight win this season and 1000th victory in the Bundesliga.
Netherlands captain Robben scored in his first match since August after being sidelined with a groin strain while Arturo Vidal, Lewandowski and Thomas Mueller also got on the scoresheet.
Wolfsburg stayed fourth with a 1-0 win at Darmstadt as Daniel Caligiuri hit their 78th minute winner.
Fresh from their 4-4 draw at home to Roma in the Champions League on Tuesday, Bayer Leverkusen had to come from 2-0 down before beating Stuttgart 4-3 in another thriller.
The victory lifted Leverkusen to sixth while Stuttgart remain in the bottom three.
Nigeria striker Anthony Ujah scored twice as Werder Bremen broke their five-match losing streak with a 3-1 win at Mainz where Japan striker Yoshinori Muto scored the hosts' consolation goal in the 90th minute.
The result lifted Bremen out of the relegation zone and up to 14th while Mainz dropped to 13th.
Midfielder Marc Stendera was Eintracht Frankfurt's star with both of their second-half goals in a 2-1 comeback victory at Hanover 96, who hang just above the relegation places.
Hertha Berlin are fifth after their 1-0 win at Bavarian side Ingolstadt on Saturday night when ex-Bayern Munich midfielder Mitchell Weiser scored the winner after just 11 minutes.
Ten-man Hoffenheim are second-from-bottom after their 1-0 defeat to Hamburg on Friday thanks to Pierre-Michel Lasogga's late winner. Hoffenheim's Bosnian defender Ermin Bicakcic was sent off for a second yellow card.
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