BARCELONA — La Liga champions Barcelona stayed on the heels of leader Real Madrid by coasting to a 3-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday as Lionel Messi became the club's top scorer from free kicks.
Paco Alcacer scored his first league goal since joining from Valencia last year by turning in a pass from Neymar in the 18th minute while Messi whipped in an angled strike in the 40th, his 27th goal from a free kick for Barca.
Aleix Vidal scored the most impressive goal of the game by finishing off an audacious solo run midway in the 67th.
Luis Enrique made six changes to the team that beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Wednesday's King's Cup semifinal first leg, resting top scorer Luis Suarez, and it looked a risky move as Athletic made a bold start, although the hosts' quality soon shone through.
Barca stayed second in the standings, moving one point behind Real Madrid but has played two games fewer than the leader, which is due to visit Celta Vigo Sunday although the game is in danger of being postponed due to extreme weather conditions.
Bayern's Schalke draw opens door for Leipzig
Bayern Munich left the door open for second-placed RB Leipzig to trim its lead in the Bundesliga to one point after being held to a 1-1 draw by Schalke Saturday.
Robert Lewandowski's deft chip gave Bayern an early lead at Munich's sold-out Allianz Arena before Schalke defender Naldo drilled home a free-kick on 13 minutes to level the scores.
Captain Philipp Lahm made his 500th appearance for Bayern, but the Bavarian giants were made to work for their point.
Flu-hit Leipzig will look to cut into Bayern's provisional four-point lead with a win at Borussia Dortmund in Saturday night's key showdown in Germany's top flight.
But Leipzig have a tough task with top-scorer Timo Werner, midfielder Diego Demme and striker Marcel Sabitzer all out with flu, while playmaker Emil Forsberg is suspended.
Hoffenheim, the last team in a top European league to lose their unbeaten record last weekend, climbed to third with a 4-0 hammering of mid-table Mainz at home.
Hertha moved up to fourth with a 1-0 win at home to strugglers Ingolstadt.
Cologne is fifth following its 1-0 win at Wolfsburg thanks to Anthony Modeste's second-half penalty, having been fouled by Wolves goalkeeper Diego Benaglio in the area.
Borussia Moenchengladbach picked up its second straight win with a 3-0 victory at home to Freiburg courtesy of goals from captain Lars Stindl, striker Raffael and winger Patrick Herrmann to go tenth. — Agencies
