Suarez hits first Clasico hat-trick since 2014

Lionel Messi was absent due to injury but Barcelona striker Luis Suarez stepped up to the mark with a brilliant hat-trick against Real Madrid.

Barcelona striker Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez hit the first Clasico hat-trick in four years as Barcelona pushed Julen Lopetegui towards the Real Madrid exit door with a 5-1 thumping at Camp Nou.

Suarez stepped up in the absence of injured Barca captain Lionel Messi with a sensational treble, the first of which came from the penalty spot after he was fouled by Raphael Varane.

3 - Luis Suarez is the first player to score 3 goals in the Classico since Lionel Messi in March 2014. Cannibal. #FCBRMApic.twitter.com/0zhYH1Dly1

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) October 28, 2018

 

A superb header put Barca 3-1 up and Suarez wrapped up his hat-trick with a terrific dinked finish over Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, before Arturo Vidal completed Sunday's scoring.

Suarez's hat-trick was the first scored by a Barca player other than Messi in the Clasico since Romario struck a treble against Los Blancos in 1994.