Barcelona»s Argentinian forward Lionel Messi (L) celebrates with Barcelona»s Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez (R) after scoring during the Spanish League football match between FC Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano.
Barcelona’s Alexis Sánchez struck twice to help the Spanish champions return to winning ways with a 4-0 home victory over promoted Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Tuesday.
Barça suffered their first defeat of the league campaign in a 1-0 reverse at Getafe on Saturday to slip six points behind leaders Real Madrid but after a shaky opening at the Nou Camp they crushed their valiant visitors in their latest outing.
Chile forward Alexis broke the deadlock in the 29th minute, and added a second in the 41st before forward David Villa made it 3-0 before the break.
Lionel Messi raced in off the right flank to notch his 16th league goal of the season after the restart.
The match was brought forward due to Barça’s participation in the Club World Cup in Japan next month and saw them climb to 31 points from 14 games, three behind Real who a game in hand.
buenosairesherald.com