Barcelona moved eight points clear at the top of La Liga with a 5-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano that saw Luis Enrique's side make history by going 35 games unbeaten, beating Real Madrid's Spanish record.
Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring midway on 22 minutes, the Croatia international taking advantage of a goalkeeping error from Juan Carlos who fumbled a cross allowing the midfielder to take a touch before firing into an empty net.
Just over a minute later and Barcelona had doubled their lead, Lionel Messi driving forwards and swapping passes with Neymar before tucking it past Carlos at his near post.
Rayo's task was made ever harder when Diego Llorente was sent off for a high challenge on Rakitic shortly before the break and Messi made the extra man count 10 minutes in the second half, grabbing his second of the evening after Luis Suarez's shot had hit the post.
Although Manucho grabbed one back for the hosts, they were dealt another blow when Manuel Iturra saw red for a foul on Sergio Busquets and although Luis Suarez missed the subsequent penalty, Messi scored his third of the evening just minutes after.
Arda Turan then completed the scoring in the 85th minute, heading home Jeremy Mathieu's cross at the far post for his first Barcelona goal.
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