FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrating after scoring his side's second goal with his teammate Luis Suarez during the Spanish La Liga football match against Eibar at the Camp Nou stadium on Sunday — AP SPAIN, Jan 14 (Agencies): Luis Suarez scored two goals and Lionel Messi added another to lead Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Eibar and stay five points ahead of Atletico Madrid as the Spanish league reached its midway point on Sunday.
Suarez opened the scoring at Camp Nou in the 19th minute. The Uruguay striker exchanged two quick passes with Philippe Coutinho to break down Eibar's backline before he skillfully directed a shot into the far corner of the net while falling down.
Meanwhile, Antoine Griezmann came to the rescue again as Atletico Madrid kept the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Sunday by edging past Levante.
Griezmann has now scored all of Atletico's last six goals and this latest one, from the penalty spot, was all that separated the teams in a cagey contest at the Wanda Metropolitano.
A 1-0 victory for Diego Simeone's side cuts the gap from five points to two behind Barca, who will restore their advantage with a win over Eibar later on Sunday.
In another match, Sevilla lost 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao, ending its unbeaten run in nine rounds.
Bilbao forward Inaki Williams scored both goals for the hosts to help lift them out of the relegation zone.
Sevilla remained in third place, level on points with Madrid.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid edged past Real Betis to climb into the La Liga top four with a first win in three matches.
Betis looked set to earn a deserved point until Dani Ceballos' late free-kick nestled into the bottom corner.
Real were given an early lead by Luka Modric, but the home side dominated possession and equalised through Segio Canales after an offside decision was overturned by VAR.
Madrid climb to fourth, but remain 10 points behind leaders Barcelona.
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