BARCELONA sent a strong message to Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid on Wednesday, demolishing Deportivo La Coruna 8-0 to end a four-game winless streak and keep its lead in the Spanish league.

    Luis Suarez scored four goals and set up three others to help Barcelona stop its freefall and show its determination to win the league for a second year in a row despite recent struggles.

    Lionel Messi, Neymar, Mark Bartra and Ivan Rakiticalso scored for the Catalan club at the Riazor Stadium in La Coruna.

    The much-needed win gave Barcelona 79 points to keep it ahead of Atletico Madrid, which defeated Athletic Bilbao 1-0 with a 38th-minute goal by striker Fernando Torres for its eighth win in nine league games.

    Atletico also reached 79 points, but it trails Barcelona on tiebreakers.

    Real Madrid stayed one point behind Barcelona and Atletico with four rounds to go after a 3-0 win over Villarreal. Karim Benzema opened the scoring at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in the 41st, Lucas Vazquez added a second in the 69th and Luka Modric rounded off in the 76th.

    “The team was phenomenal from the first minute until the last,’’ said Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, whose team has won eight league games in a row.

    Cristiano Ronaldo left the match just before the final whistle with an apparent right-leg muscle injury. The club said he would undergo tests as a precaution Thursday but it did not appear to be a serious problem.

    Barcelona’s big lead had evaporated after a draw and three consecutive losses in the league, including one against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou. The team’s turmoil was compounded by elimination by Atletico in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

    (SD-Agencies)