Lionel Messi rattled in a 17-minute hat-trick as Barcelona swept sideways Real Mallorca 5-0 on Saturday while Real Madrid went top of La Liga with a 1-0 win at Real Sociedad.
Barca youngster Isaac Cuenca and Dani Alves wrapped up the scoring in the second half to leave the champions second with 24 points from 10 games, one behind leaders Real.
Gonzalo Higuain gave Jose Mourinho's in-form Real Madrid a ninth-minute lead in San Sebastian but the team that netted 28 times in their previous seven matches were denied another hefty win by the battling Basques.
Levante, who have dropped to third with 23 points, can reclaim top spot with an eighth consecutive victory at Osasuna on Sunday.
Adriano's cross-cum-shot was turned in by the Argentine in the 21st and Messi then volleyed the third from an Alves cross in the 30th.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola left four World Cup winners on the bench, with a fifth (Xavi) resting in the stands, but they were not missed at the Nou Camp.
The hosts won a penalty for hand-ball in the 13th minute and Messi, who had a last-minute spot kick saved last weekend, blasted the ball high into the net.
Barca youth team forward Cuenca notched the fourth on his home debut in the 50th minute, rounding the keeper from Thiago Alcantara's defence-splitting pass, before Alves crashed in a fifth from distance at the end.
"It was madness when they said I was in crisis after three games," Messi told Spanish television.
"It doesn't bother me. I score when I can and when I don't the important thing is the team win."
Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes kept a clean sheet for an eighth game in a row and edged towards a club record.
The Spanish international last conceded 787 minutes ago, in a 2-2 draw at Valencia last month, and is only 37 minutes short of the mark held by Miguel Reina, father of Liverpool keeper Pepe, from the 1972-73 season
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