MADRID: Lionel Messi looks ready for London.

Barcelona’s star helped set up goals for Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba to earn a 2-0 victory at Eibar as the La Liga leaders warmed up for their visit to Chelsea in the Champions League.

Barca broke their mini-slump of back-to-back draws to remain unbeaten through 24 rounds and extend their advantage over second-placed Atletico Madrid provisionally to 10 points.

“We will head to the match with confidence,” Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets said about Chelsea. “We are having a good season, but that won’t mean anything now. We are facing a tie against a great team that won their league last season. We know it will be difficult and that we have to play smart for 180 minutes.”

It was not a comfortable afternoon for Ernesto Valverde’s men in the rain in the Basque Country, but Barca have now gone 31 La Liga matches undefeated in total to match their record run under Pep Guardiola in 2010/11.

Valverde said Eibar were ideal opponents ahead of the Champions League last 16, first leg against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

“Eibar always put you under a lot of pressure, so it was a good test. We really suffered, because they are in great form,” said Valverde.

“It was a very difficult match just as we expected, and we will try and make sure it helps us, altho­ugh the Champions League is another competition altogether.”

Suarez latched on to a pass from Lionel Messi to dribble round the home side’s goalkeeper and slot into an empty net in the 16th minute, while Messi hit the woodwork later in the game, as did Eibar’s Fabian Orellana, who was sent off with 25 minutes remaining for a second booking.

Eibar coach Jose Luis Mendilibar was also dismissed later for angry protests against referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez.

Messi was also involved when Barca finally made the most of their extra man in the 88th minute, running towards goal and into Eibar goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic, allowing Alba to sidefoot the loose ball into the near corner with his weaker right foot.

Valencia consolidated their grip on third place, coming from behind to win 2-1 at bottom side Malaga with a late Dani Parejo penalty.

Sevilla also won before their Champions League meeting with Manchester United, beating Las Palmas 2-1 in the Canary Islands to move into fifth place. Sevilla host United on Wednesday to start their Champions League final-16 tie.

Deportivo La Coruna suffered a second straight defeat under Clarence Seedorf, the Dutch coach’s side losing 1-0 at Alaves to a scorching strike from former Barcelona loanee Munir El Haddadi.

Deportivo remain second-bottom of the standings on 17 points while Alaves move 10 clear of the relegation zone. Malaga remain rooted to the bottom of the table on 13.

Published in Dawn, February 19th, 2018