Suarez double as Barca set record in Betis win

Reuters: Luis Suarez struck twice and Lionel Messi scored on his 500th appearance for Barcelona who set a new Spanish record of goals in a calendar year with a 4-0 win over Real Betis that lifted them top of La Liga on Wednesday.

Late strikes from Angel Correa and Antoine Griezmann gave Atletico a 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano while Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and missed another as Real Madrid beat Real Sociedad 3-1.

Barcelona and Atletico have 38 points with the Catalan side having played a game fewer, two more than third-placed Real.

Messi slid home his 425th goal for Barca after 34 minutes to add to their lead which came from a Heiko Westermann own-goal following a controversial penalty.

The Argentine was harshly judged to have been fouled by keeper Antonio Adan and although Neymar slipped and hit the crossbar with his spot-kick, Westermann put the rebound into the back of his own net.

Suarez pounced twice in the second half to take Barca’s goal tally to 180 this year, two more than the previous Spanish record set by Real Madrid in 2014.

“It has been a fantastic year and we wanted to finish it the same way,” Messi told reporters.

“It will be difficult to improve on what we have done but we will try.”