Barcelona briefly went top of La Liga for the first time since October after Luis Suárez, Neymar and Lionel Messi scored in a 6-0 thrashing of Alavés on Saturday, although the win was overshadowed by a serious injury to Aleix Vidal. Suárez turned in a cross from Vidal in the 37th minute to give Barcelona the lead against the Basques, who they will meet in the King’s Cup final, and Neymar pounced on an error from the goalkeeper Fernando Pacheco in the 40th minute.

Messi hit the ball under a hapless Pacheco for the third in the 59th minute to complete a full house for the “MSN” trio, while an own goal by Alexis Ruano, a thumping strike from Ivan Rakitic and a volley by Suárez completed the rout. The Uruguayan, who was sent off at the end of the 1-1 draw with Atlético Madrid on Tuesday – a result which sealed Barcelona’s place in the King’s Cup final in May, which he will now miss through suspension – moved one goal ahead of Messi at the top of the league’s scoring charts with 18 strikes.

A brilliant outing for Luis Enrique’s side turned sour, however, when Vidal was left writhing in pain from a harrowing ankle injury sustained in a challenge from Theo Hernández with five minutes remaining. Barcelona briefly topped the standings on 48 points until Real Madrid’s 3-1 win at the basement club Osasuna later on Saturday took them a point clear at the summit again with two games in hand.

“It was a good result, but one we can’t celebrate very much,” Rakitic said. “At first glance [Vidal’s injury] looked very ugly. We hope it turns out not to be that bad.”