Luis Suarez ended a five-game goal drought with a double as Barcelona extended their lead at the top of La Liga with a flattering 3-0 win at Leganes on Saturday.

Barca now lead second-placed Valencia by seven points ahead of their trip to the Mestalla next weekend. However, two simple Suarez finishes from close range either side of half-time and Paulinho’s late tap-in glossed over another under-par performance from Ernesto Valverde’s men, who were again thankful to a fine display from goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

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Suarez was refreshed after sitting out international duty with Uruguay over the past fortnight and had the ball in the net after just four minutes, but Jordi Alba had already been flagged for offside as he supplied the cross for the former Liverpool striker.

Leganes have enjoyed a fine start to just their second ever season in the Spanish top flight and a repeat of the 5-0 thrashing Barca dished out on their visit to Butarque last season was never likely as the hosts went onto enjoy the better of the opening half.

“Perhaps 0-3 is a bit excessive. They played well enough for the gap between the teams to not be so great,” said Barca boss Valverde. Barca’s joy was tempered moments later when Gerard Pique was booked for bringing down Amrabat meaning he will be suspended for next weekend’s clash at Valencia.

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Amrabat was the creator once more for Leganes’ best chance before the break when he released Alexander Szymanowski inside the area, but the Argentine’s curling effort was turned to safety by the in-form Ter Stegen.

The German goalkeeper was called into action again early in the second period when Leganes substitute Claudio Beauvue was too quick for the Barca defence only to fire straight at Ter Stegen. Barca rubbed salt into Leganes’ wounds when Paulinho rolled into an empty net when a loose ball broke off Messi in stoppage time.