Barca win Catalan derby
Elsewhere Real Madrid continued their impressive week, following up the win in Rome with a 4-1 demolition of Osasuna, whilst Deportivo's Roy Makaay will be another that will not forget the past seven days, notching a brace in his team's 2-0 victory over Valladolid.
A stifling defence had kept Barca at bay in Camp Nou for the first half, mixed in with some rather agricultural challenges that made watchers wince.
Alfredo Argenso had been brilliant, keeping out Javier Saviola when clean through on goal and denying an incredible diving header from Patrick Kluivert with his feet.
Juan Roman Riquelme came on at the beginning of the second half and almost announced himself with a goal, Argenso tipping over his free-kick.
Yet just before the hour Barca eventually made the breakthrough, Luis Enrique doing brilliantly to take the ball in his stride and delivering the perfect cross for Kluivert (pictured) at the back post to head high into the net.
Luis Enrique added a second, keeping his record going of having scored in every competitive match for Barca this season.
A Fernando cross was expertly headed into the corner of the net by the Spanish veteran.
At Estadio Santiago Bernabeu the home side found both of their central defenders in the book after just six minutes.
Ivan Helguera made up for this in the 11th minute, beating the offside trap to cheekily backheel the opener.
Guti, who scored midweek, made it two, taking advantage of a fortuitous rebound to fire home the second in the 52nd minute and just sixty seconds later it was three as Raul finished off a great move from close range.
Rivero converted a penalty after Iker Casillas brought down Ivan Rosado in the box just before the hour but Helguera had the last say, heading home the fourth with 11 minutes left.
Makaay, fresh from his hat-trick in midweek at Munich was quickly on the scoresheet at El Riazor, notching the opener in the 13th minute against Valladolid.
The Dutch striker made it two just before the half-hour and Depor played out a comfortable hour for all three points.
Click below for more information on the relevant fixture:
La Liga
Barcelona v Espanyol
Deportivo La Coruna v Real Valladolid
Real Madrid v Osasuna
Click here for La Liga table
