Barca dazzle in win, but Real maintain lead

Barcelona responded to a trying week by producing a scintillating display to thrash Villarreal 4-1 away on Sunday and stay alive in the Liga title race.

The Catalans had drawn their last two matches to hand more momentum to league leaders Real Madrid but Sunday's win took them to 73 points after 34 games, four behind their arch-rivals who won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao earlier in the day.

They entered the day trailing Real Madrid by four points, but that deficit became seven points Sunday morning following Real's win as captain Sergio Ramos scored his 22nd straight penalty kick in 1-0 win.

"Getting all three points here was a group effort, and we knew they were crucial in our hopes of winning the league," said Ramos.

"It was crucial to get the three points to stay in the hunt but the way we played was important too because that's a part of our identity so we need to keep playing like that until the end of the season," said Barca defender Gerard Pique.

There had been also been plenty of speculation surrounding coach Setien after he had brought Griezmann on in added time against Atletico, a move described in the Spanish media as an act of humiliation against the World Cup-winning forward.

Griezmann was named in the lineup against a Villarreal side who had won five of their last six games and was lively from the kick off, helping force the opening goal as well as working tirelessly in midfield and combining well with Messi and Suarez.

He adorned his performance with a sumptuous goal, receiving a back-heeled lay off from Messi and coolly delivering a chip that skimmed off the crossbar and into the net.

Messi produced an outstanding performance but failed to score as the Argentine had one effort ruled out for offside after a thrilling team move and then hammered the bar with a late free kick.

Messi reached 19 assists for the La Liga season with the two assists against Villarreal. He previously racked up 18 assists in 2010-11 and 2014-15. One more would see Messi equal all-time highest number of assists in a single season currently held by former teammate Xavi Hernandez.

Messi also became the only player to notch 20+ assists (all competitions) in two different seasons among players in Europe's top leagues in the last 20 years.

It is the 12th consecutive time Messi has been involved in 50 goals for Barcelona in all competitions