Robert Lewandowski took his tally for the season to 38 with a double as Barcelona beat Girona 4-1 to move three points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
The Poland international found the back of the net twice inside 16 second-half minutes after Arnaut Danjuma had equalised following Ladislav Krejci’s own goal, and Ferran Torres came off the bench to seal the rout four minutes from time.
Lewandowski has scored nine goals in his last nine league games and has 25 goals in total in the Spanish league, three more than Madrid’s superstar signing Kylian Mbappe.
“For me the most important thing is what I can do to help the team," Lewandowski said. “I know that if I score two goals, I’ll be helping my team. As a striker it's important to have confidence for when the ball comes to me.”
On Saturday, Real Madrid had moved level on points with Barcelona with a 3-2 victory over Leganes at home and third-placed Atletico Madrid dropped nine points off the lead following a 1-1 draw at Espanyol.
It was Barcelona’s sixth win in a row in all competitions, and 11th in their last 12 matches. Hansi Flick’s team are yet to lose in 20 games this calendar year, with their last loss coming against Atletico in December.
“We are in great form at the moment and we are creating a lot of chances when we have the ball. What I take from today is our ability to react after the break,” Flick said. “The great thing about my team is that we always want to score goals and everyone likes to see that.”
Barcelona have scored four or more goals in 20 of their 45 matches in all competitions this season.
“When you score four times it means you played a great match,” Lewandowski said. “We've been scoring a lot, and it's important that when we can't score early we have been patient and not changing our game plan.”
Flick praised the “special” Poland striker.
“Lewandowski is really important," Flick said. "I don’t like to pick out individuals but he is special inside the box.”
Catalan rivals Girona are now winless in seven consecutive matches and stay in 13th place.
Girona beat Barcelona twice last season as they finished fourth to clinch Uefa Champions League football but have struggled to hit those heights again this term.
"They were superior," admitted Girona coach Michel Sanchez.
"There's a difference between the teams and that's the truth ... Barcelona dream of titles every year."
Barcelona forward Raphinha stayed on the bench to get some rest following his matches with Brazil in South American World Cup qualifying.
Barcelona visit Atletico in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals on Wednesday. The first match ended 4-4.
Elsewhere fourth-place Athletic Bilbao were held to a 0-0 draw at home by Osasuna, allowing Villarreal to cut the gap on them to six points after beating Getafe 2-1.
Real Betis, sixth, won their sixth game in a row to stay on Villarreal's tail, beating rivals Sevilla 2-1 in a derby clash.
Valencia's 1-0 win over Mallorca took them 15th, four points clear of the relegation zone.
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