In-form midfielder Xavi created four goals out of Barca's six to help his side outclass arch-rivals Real at Santiago Bernabeu.

Gonzalo Higuain's early opener for the hosts was foiled by three successive goals from Henry, Carles Puyol and Messi.

Sergio Ramos narrowed the deficit in the second half but Barcelona opened the floodgates to add three more goals via strikes from Henry, Messi and Gerard Pique.

Barcelona, who are close to winning their first league title since 2006, are on top of the table on 85 points, seven ahead of Real with four matches remaining.

Surprise Lead

Some slack marking gifted Real an unlikely lead after 13 minutes as the home fans were sent into raptures.

Ramos got the better of Eric Abidal before whipping in a pinpoint cross to the unmarked Higuain, who headed past Victor Valdes.

Poor defending at the other end cost Real their lead as Henry leveled the score four minutes later.

A clever chipped pass by Messi eluded Ramos and found the French striker, who went one-on-one with Iker Casillas and placed his shot into the bottom corner.

Puyol put Barca in front on 20 minutes when he headed home Xavi’s free-kick.

The Catalans ran riot afterwards and wasted a host of clear-cut opportunities amid little resistance from Real. They added a third goal in the 35th minute.

The evergreen Xavi robbed Lassana Diarra near the halfway line and fed the overlapping Messi, who raced clear on goal and clipped the ball past Casillas.

To no avail

Real grabbed a lifeline ten minutes after the restart with a deft header from Ramos but his effort was to no avail as Henry restored Barca's two-goal cushion two minutes later.

The former Arsenal man latched onto another sublime pass from Xavi to break the offside trap and roll the ball past the advancing Casillas.

Messi's clinical finish after being set up by Xavi put the result beyond doubt in the 74th minute.

There was more to come though.

Defender Pique added the sixth seven minutes from time to complete the rout.

The former Manchester United man was picked out by a Samuel Eto'o cross but his initial shot was thwarted by Casillas. He gathered the ball again and the found the net on the rebound.