Barcelona leaves 10-man Madrid in the dust in decisive El Clasico

No one can stop Barcelona.

The Catalan giant is now nine points clear atop the La Liga table and a whopping 14 ahead of Real Madrid after Saturday's 3-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Madrid controlled possession in the first half of El Clasico, but lost all momentum after the interval. Ivan Rakitic's surging run set up Luis Suarez's opener, and Lionel Messi later converted from the penalty spot to demoralise the home side.

Dani Carvajal was sent off after blocking a sure goal with his arm, all but eradicating the Madrid's chances of a comeback.

Substitute Aleix Vidal added a third goal in stoppage time to complete the humiliation.

Barcelona's unbeaten run now stands at 25 matches across all competitions.

"We took another step forward in the league," Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta said, according to The Associated Press. "But I don't rule out Madrid. This is a long-distance race. Madrid is a very good team and they are not out of the title race."

Los Blancos returned from the Club World Cup as champions but showed none of those qualities in a disastrous second half. Preoccupied with Messi's position on the pitch, Mateo Kovacic, who started ahead of the inspirational Isco, allowed Rakitic all the time in the world to waltz through the midfield. Seconds and a few killer passes later, Suarez deposited the ball in the back of the net.

Barcelona kept up the pressure, with a goalmouth scramble forcing Carvajal to bat the ball away with his arm. Messi hoofed in the subsequent spot-kick to collect his 526th league goal for Barcelona and surpass Gerd Muller as the highest-scoring player in the history of the top five European leagues.

Barcelona's last defeat came in the Spanish Super Cup, which it lost to Madrid 5-1 aggregate.

How long ago that was.

Madrid remains in fourth place in the La Liga standings with a game still to play.