LONDON, March 10: Ahead of their Champions League commitments in midweek, Barcelona and Bayern Munich won on Saturday to extend their advantage at the top of La Liga and Bundesliga.

Barca, looking to overcome a 2-0 deficit from the first-leg last-16 tie against AC Milan on Tuesday, stretched their lead to 14 points after Lionel Messi extended his Spanish league record by scoring in 17 straight games with a stunning goal that sealed a 2-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna.

Bayern, 3-1 up against Arsenal before the second-leg on Wednesday, twice came from behind to beat Fortuna Duesseldorf 3-2 to power 20 points clear thanks in part to fellow Champions League competitors Schalke 04 who beat defending champions Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Ruhr derby.

Paris St Germain, meanwhile, celebrated qualification to the Champions League quarter-finals earlier this week with a 2-1 victory over AS Nancy courtesy Swedish superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s double which helped them go five points clear in Ligue 1.

With an eye on the Milan match, Messi started on the bench at the Nou Camp but went on in the second half and scored two minutes from time with a delicate chip shot to double Barca’s lead after Alexis Sanchez opened in the 38th.

Victory moved Barca to 71 points from 27 matches with second-placed Atletico Madrid on 57 with a game in hand.

“Every competition is different and Tuesday will be a different story, but I have always said that the best way to prepare for a game is to win the previous one,” Barcelona assistant coach Jordi Roura told reporters. “The players seem in good shape and we will do everything humanly possible to get past Milan.”

Malaga, also in Champions League action in midweek as they try to overturn a 1-0 deficit against Porto on Wednesday, remain in fourth on 44 points after a 1-1 draw away to Real Valladolid.

Schalke’s victory over Dortmund helped them move to fourth place and the Champions League playoff berth in the Bundesliga and left Bayern needing just three more wins from the remaining nine games to guarantee their 23rd league title.

Schalke, who face Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday in a tie evenly-poised at 1-1, spoiled a good week for a Dortmund side already through to the Champions League last-eight.

First-half goals from Julian Draxler and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar secured Schalke’s victory with Robert Lewandowski reducing the deficit in the second-half.

Defender Jerome Boateng nodded the winner in the 86th minute for Bayern after Thomas Mueller and then Franck Ribery had earlier equalised to goals from Mathis Bolly and Andreas Lambertz.

Bayern have 66 points from 25 games while second-placed Dortmund have 46, one more than Bayer Leverkusen who lost 1-0 in Mainz with Schalke moving to 39.

Nancy stunned PSG when Benjamin Moukandjo put them ahead in the 36th minute but Ibrahimovic equalised in the 59th before chasing a long ball from Marco Verratti to net the winner three minutes later, taking his goal tally to 24 in Ligue 1.

“Games after the Champions League are very difficult because we don’t have the same energy,” PSG manager Carlo Ancelotti said. “But we managed to show a lot of character and energy in the second-half to win this important match.”

PSG have 57 points from 28 games with Olympique Lyon on 52 and third-placed Olympique Marseille three points further adrift.

In the lone Serie A match played on Saturday, AS Roma missed the chance to close in on the European qualifying places when they drew 1-1 at Udinese.

Erik Lamela put Roma ahead but Luis Muriel equalised for Udinese, who finished with ten men after defender Thomas Heurtaux was sent off. Roma moved within a point of sixth-placed Fiorentina with 44 points while Udinese stayed ninth on 41 points. —Agencies