French ace Thierry Henry scored a brace on 20 and 28 minutes in the first half, before Daniel Alves added the third on 47 minutes.

After the restart, Henry, who was deployed as a striker, put the icing on the cake and completed his hat-trick on 79 minutes.

Magnificent Henry

The hosts took a stranglehold on the game in no time, and managed to translate their onslaught into goals.

Henry deputized in the absence of Samuel Eto'o upfront, therefore didn't play on the right wing as usual.

Xavi Hernandez threatened the visitors when he cut inside and cannoned a low shot, which was denied by the post.

The France hitman refreshed his glory days at Arsenal when he went one-on-one with Renan Soares and slotted home with a nice chip over the keeper's head.

He doubled the lead with a close-range shot, thanks to Alexander Hleb's deft cross.

Alves netted the third goal with aplomb after latching on to Xavi's through.

Finally, Henry scored the fourth when he connected with Bojan Krkic's pinpoint low cross.

Now the gap between Josip Guardiola's men and second-placed Villarreal has been widened after the latter salvaged a 3-3 draw with Getafe earlier on the same day.

The Catalans' muscles- flexing is considered a warning to their arch-rivals Real Madrid, as both teams meet next week.