Suarez hat-trick extends six-goal Barca’s La Liga lead

Barcelona’s fourth goal came on the stroke of half-time with Girona’s defenders left begging for the interval after Messi’s perfectly-weighted pass found Coutinho to square for Suarez to tap in.

? Final whistle Camp Nou!!
⚽ #BarçaGirona
? @LuisSuarez9 (x3)
? #Messi (x2)
? #Coutinho

?? #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/mvvmlD0PHI

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) February 24, 2018

The Catalan giants eased off slightly in the second half, but Coutinho got off the mark in the league in style as he cut inside and curled a long-range strike into the far corner.

French winger Dembele played his part too late on as he crossed from the left for Suarez to complete a hat-trick.

After a slow start to the campaign, the Uruguayan forward has now scored 17 goals in his last 14 league matches.

– Selfless Ronaldo –

Earlier on Saturday, Real coach Zinedine Zidane hailed Ronaldo’s selflessness after the forward gave up the chance of a hat-trick by allowing Benzema to take a late penalty at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Zidane restored Bale to the starting XI to reunite the ‘BBC’ front line of the Welshman, Ronaldo and Benzema.

Ronaldo, whose first goal was created by a magnificent Benzema flick, stood aside in the 89th minute to allow the Frenchman to convert only his fourth league goal of the season.

“The gesture of Cristiano is very important,” said Zidane. “After the game he played, Karim just needed to score a goal.

“He (Ronaldo) had opportunities, he scored twice. After there is this gesture of Cristiano for Karim.

“This proves that between them, there is a good atmosphere, a good relationship, and to win and continue what we’re doing, it’s super important.”

The reigning champions’ title hopes are all but over, with Real 14 points adrift of Barca, but a run of four straight wins has ended any worries of missing out on a Champions League spot.

“Confidence returns from playing these kinds of matches,” added Zidane.

“After our match against PSG (3-1 win in Champions League), we’ve been doing much better, maybe there was a missing part or something like that.”