Barça close gap, Bueno on fire
Barcelona turned up the heat on Spanish La Liga leaders Real Madrid with a 3-1 win at Granada. Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring after 25 minutes and Luis Suarez struck at the start of the second period, grabbing his third goal in four days.
Fran Rico pulled one back for the hosts from the penalty spot, but Suarez then set up Lionel Messi to seal the victory. The win moved second-placed Barça a point behind Madrid, who host Villarreal on Sunday.
Alberto Bueno scored four goals in the space of 14 minutes to help Rayo Vallecano to a dramatic 4-2 win at home to Levante. Victor Casadesus gave the visitors the lead in the 13th minute, but Bueno levelled 11 minutes later and almost every time the striker touched the ball for the remainder of the half it ended up in the net.
The second half saw far less goalmouth action, but Kalu Uche came off the bench to get a late second for Levante.
Two second-half goals from Getafe's Alvaro Vazquez could not prevent Malaga earning a 3-2 win.Juanmi headed the hosts ahead early on before Vazquez netted his first 10 minutes into the second half. Goals from Sergi Darder and Ricardo Horta put Malaga 3-1 up before Vazquez scored his second after 76 minutes to set up a tense finish.
Elsewhere, Almeria drew 0-0 at home to fellow strugglers Deportivo La Coruna, despite having striker Koulossa Thievy sent off in the 55th minute.