Barcelona put pressure on the La Liga leaders Real Madrid by picking up their first win in four league games as two second-half strikes from Lionel Messi and one from Luis Suárez secured a 3-0 win at struggling Osasuna on Saturday.

The champions missed a slew of chances in a dominant first-half display but their class eventually shone through when Suárez tapped Jordi Alba’s neat cutback into an empty net in the 52nd minute to break the deadlock.

Barcelona invite Chapecoense to take part in pre-season match at Camp Nou Read more

Suárez had earlier struck the post with a low shot after swivelling away from his marker, Iván Márquez, inside the box. Osasuna later hit the woodwork themselves, when Sergio León drove towards goal after racing away from Samuel Umtiti before his delicate chip evaded the Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen but not the crossbar.

Messi sealed the points in the 72nd minute by finishing off another pass from Alba and in stoppage time the Argentina striker toyed with the Osasuna defence to grab the third and move ahead of Suárez and Cristiano Ronaldo as the league’s top scorer with 11 goals.

“We had a lot of chances and we knew that as soon as we got ahead it would open up. Fortunately, we were able to see out the game,” Suárez told reporters. “We can’t give up the fight, we’re Barça and we’re title candidates, we won’t give up whether we’re five, six or seven points behind.”

Barcelona remain second in the standings, but are still six points behind Real Madrid thanks to Real’s last-gasp 3-2 win over Deportivo La Coruña on Saturday evening. The result meant Real set a new club record of 35 games unbeaten in all competitions.