Barcelona set a new La Liga record by extending its unbeaten run to 39 games with a 2-1 victory over Valencia on Saturday.
Luis Suarez and Samuel Umtiti were both on target as Barca passed the 38 matches Real Sociedad managed without defeat between 1979 and 1980. Dani Parejo gave Valencia brief hope with an 87th-minute penalty.
The win at the Camp Nou, which was more comfortable than the scoreline suggested, also eases fears that Tuesday’s Champions League collapse against Roma could affect Barcelona’s march to the league title.
Ernesto Valverde’s side is now 14 points clear at the top of the table, before second-placed Atletico Madrid plays its game in hand against Levante on Sunday.
Valencia stays third, one point ahead of Real Madrid, which is also in action on Sunday, away to Malaga.
There is no doubt Barca’s shock defeat in Italy still lingers, but it should take little away from its faultless form in the league, which means the last time it tasted defeat outside a cup competition was against Malaga just over 12 months ago.
This was already a club record run, now eight games better than the 31 unbeaten Pep Guardiola’s brilliant team strung together in the season of 2010-11.
It would now seem only the home Clasico against Real Madrid on May 6, and perhaps an awkward trip to Celta Vigo on Tuesday, stand in the way of Barcelona finishing the league campaign as invincibles.
Earlier, Sevilla overcame a red card, missed penalty and 2-0 deficit against Villarreal to seal a valuable point in the race for Europa League qualification.
Wissam Ben Yedder was booked twice, each time for dissent, eight minutes after coming on as a second-half substitute, with Sevilla already trailing to Dani Raba’s strike nine minutes before the interval.
When Carlos Bacca then put Villarreal two up at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, 10-man Sevilla looked dead and buried, particularly when Nolito missed a penalty with 15 minutes left.
Villarreal’s Jaume Costa, however, had been sent off for his protests against the spot-kick and, with both teams a man down, Sevilla added a dramatic finish to a pulsating contest.
Nolito made amends for his earlier error by converting from close range and, in the 82nd minute, Steven Nzonzi grabbed a brilliant equaliser, his stunning long-range shot bending inside the bottom corner for 2-2.
Chelsea’s kept its slim hopes of playing Champions League football next season alive as Olivier Giroud came off the bench to inspire an eight-minute turnaround from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Southampton on Saturday.
Dusan Tadic and debutant Jan Bednarek put the hosts in command, but Giroud’s first league goals for Chelsea either side of Eden Hazard’s equaliser cut the gap on Liverpool and Tottenham in the fight for a top-four finish to seven points.
The results:La Liga: Sevilla 2 (Nolito 78, Nzonzi 82) drew with Villarreal 2 (Raba 36, Bacca 68); Barcelona 2 (Suarez 15, Umtiti 51) bt Valencia 1 (Parejo 87-pen). Friday: Girona 0 lost to Real Betis 1 (Moron 36).
Premier League: Southampton 2 (Tadic 21, Bednarek 60) lost to Chelsea 3 (Giroud 70, 78, Hazard 75); Burnley 2 (Wood 6, Long 9) bt Leicester 1 (Vardy 72); Crystal Palace 3 (Zaha 5, 24, Tomkins 14) bt Brighton 2 (Murray 18, Izquierdo 34); Huddersfield 1 (Ince 90+1) bt Watford 0; Swansea 1 (Jordan Ayew 71) drew with Everton 1 (Naughton 43-og).
Serie A: Cagliari 2 (Pavoletti 21, Ceppitelli 84) bt Udinese 1 (Lasagna 10).
Bundesliga: Hoffenheim 2 (Gnabry 18, Szalai 27) bt Hamburg 0; Hertha Berlin 2 (Selke 49, 52) bt Cologne 1 (Bittencourt 29); Bayer Leverkusen 4 (Brandt 20, Volland 71, 77, 88) bt Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (Fabian 23); Stuttgart 1 (Thommy 53) drew with Hanover 1 (Fuellkrug 90+1). Friday: Wolfsburg 0 drew with Augsburg 0.
