Eight is the magic number as Messi and Suárez share the spoils

Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez scored twice each as La Liga champions.

Barcelona turned on the style to hammer Huesca 8-2 on Sunday and join Real Madrid as the only teams in the league to win their opening three games. Top-flight debutants Huesca took a shock early lead in their first league visit to the Nou Camp when Colombian forward Cucho Hernández deflected the ball in from point-blank range, but Messi soon dampened the celebrations of the visiting supporters by cannoning a shot in off the post to level in the 16th.

An own goal from Jorge Pulido gave Barça the lead and Suárez extended their lead by scoring for the first time in five games in all competitions after the video assistant referee (VAR) overturned an offside call from the linesman.

Killed off

Huesca's Álex Gallar pulled one back before halftime to make it 3-2, but any hope of a revival from the visitors was soon killed off by three Barça goals in 11 minutes from Ousmane Dembélé, Ivan Rakitic and another strike from Messi.

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Jordi Alba capped a brilliant performance to score the seventh after setting up two of the earlier goals, while Suárez added number eight with a penalty in stoppage time as Messi turned down the chance to complete a hat-trick, offering the spot-kick to the Uruguayan instead.

We were sleeping at the start of the game but their goal helped wake us up

The thrashing lifted Barça above Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga standings on goal difference after three games, with the Catalans scoring 12 and conceding two while Real have netted 10 and conceded twice.

“We were sleeping at the start of the game but their goal helped wake us up and we reacted well,” Suárez said. “It’s good to be top of the league before the international break, but the best thing about this win is seeing how well we played.”

Barça also put eight goals past Huesca in their last meeting at the Nou Camp in the Copa del Rey in an 8-1 win in 2014, while this was their biggest win in the league since thumping Deportivo La Coruña 8-0 away from home in April 2016. The last time they scored eight times in a home league game was in an 8-0 thrashing of Osasuna in 2011.