Seven-up Barca bounce back

Barcelona ended one of the most disappointing weeks in their recent history with a thumping 7-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano that ensures Real Madrid will have to wait at least a few more days to win the Primera Division title.

With Madrid beating Sevilla earlier to move 10 points clear at the summit, Jose Mourinho's men would have been crowned champions if Barca had lost at Rayo but the Catalan giants were not about to relinquish their title with a whimper in the capital.

Lionel Messi started and finished the scoring, with Barca's other goals coming from a Pedro Rodriguez brace, Seydou Keita, Thiago and a Robert own goal.

The result leaves Barca seven points behind Madrid with three games remaining and was the perfect response to a week that has rocked the Nou Camp club.

As if last weekend's home defeat to Madrid, which left their arch rivals on the verge of the title, was not bad enough, Barca then saw their Champions League defence come to an end after they were dumped out by Chelsea in the semi-finals in midweek.

Perhaps the biggest blow came on Friday though, when coach Pep Guardiola announced he would be stepping down in the summer after a record-breaking four years in charge which has seen him lead Barca to 13 titles - with a 14th on offer in next month's Copa del Rey final.

Losing Guardiola is a blow for Barca, but the man who is going to replace him, his assistant Tito Vilanova, will inherit one of the greatest teams in history - and one that Rayo simply could not live with.

The hosts, who remain in serious relegation trouble after suffering a seventh defeat in eight games, had early claims for a penalty turned down following a mistake by stand-in Barca goalkeeper Jose Pinto, but after that it was all one-way traffic.

Messi opened the scoring in the 16th minute when he tapped in Pedro's pass across the face of goal and, after Pinto had parried Diego Costa's glancing header to keep Barca ahead, the visitors went 2-0 up in the 26th minute.

Messi robbed a Rayo defender of possession and Alexis Sanchez was immediately sent through into the area. The Chilean was pushed wide as he skipped past Rayo goalkeeper David Cobeno but his low cross-shot was deflected into his own net by Robert.

To add injury to insult for the Rayo defender, he collided with the post in trying to keep out that Alexis cross and he had to be substituted soon after.

Pinto made another good save to push away Roberto Trashorras's superb curling free-kick but it was Barca back on the attack in the 38th minute when Keita made it 3-0 after good work by Messi.

Rayo would have hoped for better fortune after the break, but it took Barca just 60 seconds of the second half to increase their lead with Pedro tapping into an empty net after Messi had struck the underside of the crossbar with a side-footed effort.

Thiago curled an effort just wide as Barca sought a fifth, and it was the young playmaker who did make it 5-0 in the 77th minute with a downward header from Dani Alves' right-wing cross.

Barca then added two more goals late on to compound Rayo's misery and wrap up a one-side victory - with Messi and Pedro once again involved in both.

Pedro made it 6-0 in the 87th minute after being found unmarked in the area by Messi, and then the two reversed roles two minutes later for Barca's seventh, Pedro laying the ball back for Messi to side-foot into the net for the Argentinian's 43rd league goal of the year.