Story highlights
Barcelona beat Almeria 2-1.
Almeria had led at half time.
Introduction of Suarez turns game around.
Barcelona go one point clear, but Madrid have game in hand.
Real Madrid smashed five goals past Rayo Vallecano to return to the top of the Spanish league after briefly being deposed by rivals Barcelona.
The score flattered Real Madrid, who scored a flurry of second half goals late on after a brave Rayo Vallecano effort had threatened an upset.
Gareth Bale returned to the starting line up to score within the first ten minutes and when Sergio Ramos added a second a heavy defeat was on the cards. But Rayo Vallecano’s Alberto Bueno made the most of a horrific defensive mix up to pull a goal back before half time.
But Madrid eventually imposed their superiority on the game, with Toni Kroos, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo completing the scoring.
It was the tenth game in a row that Ronaldo has scored. It was also the fifth time in eight league games that Madrid have scored five goals.
Suarez arrives?
Meanwhile Luis Suarez came off the bench to set up two goals, save Barcelona’s blushes and see the Catalan side briefly go top of the league.
Barcelona had traveled to Almeria with question marks hanging over Luis Enrique’s team. A two game losing streak was followed by an unconvincing 2-0 victory over Ajax in the Champions League.
The returning Luis Suaraz, signed in the summer but banned until last month after biting a player at the World Cup finals, had been far from his best too.
Suarez started on the bench and Barcelona went into half time a goal down after Thievy Bifouma took advantage of a Lionel Messi mistake to fire Almeria into the lead
But Suarez and Neymar were called into action in the second half which changed the shape of the game.
The two combined midway through the second half to bring the sides level before Suarez’s cross set up Jordi Alba in the 81st minute to score the winner. But Coach Enrique was far from happy.
“The second half was better for the ambition and attitude shown by the players rather than for good football,” he said after the game.”To have a good season, though, you have to win even when you don’t play well in games like today.”
Bayern thrive, Dortmund dive
In Germany, Bayern Munich continued their imperious form by beating Eintracht Frankfurt 4-0 thanks to a Thomas Mueller hat trick.
The victory saw Munich go seven points clear at the top of the league, handing coach Pep Guardiola his eight victory in eleven league games.
“They were very aggressive in defense, we had a few problems with our structure,” Guardiola told AFP after the game. “But the last 20 minutes was a completely different game.”
Munich’s supremacy is no surprise to anyone, but the identity of the team propping up the league is.
Jurgen Klopp’s Dortmund qualified for the knock out phase of the Champions League last week, but results on Saturday saw Dortmund fall to the foot of the table, the first time they have been in such a lowly position for seven years.
Dortmund has lost five league games in a row. They play Borussia Monchengladbach Sunday.
