Spanish champions Barcelona set a club record of 12 successive wins in all competitions with a 3-1 away victory over Cadiz in the Primera Liga on Saturday.

Ludovic Giuly fired Barcelona ahead in the 31st minute before Samuel Eto’o stretched the lead for the visitors from an injury time penalty-kick at the end of the first-half.

Eto’o was on target again three minutes after re-start while Nenad Mirosavljevic got a consolation for the home side in the dying seconds of the match.

The win, which broke the record of 11 games set in the 1955-6 season, put the Barcelona three points clear at the Liga summit on 37 points, three points ahead of second-placed Osasuna who face Real Madrid on Sunday.

Barcelona got off to a slow start in the absence of pivotal midfielders Ronaldinho and Xavi but managed to regroup and take the lead in the 31st minute through Giuly.

The Frenchman latched on to a deft pass from Andreas Iniesta before chipping the ball past the advancing Cadiz goalkeeper.

Barcelona were awarded a controversial penalty at the end of the first half when Rafael Marquez seemed to have been brought down by Cadiz defender Jose de la Cuesta in the area.

Eto’o sent Cadiz keeper Armando the wrong direction to score Barca’s second two minutes into injury time.

The Cameroon talisman made it three for the Catalans when he nodded home from close-range in the 48th minute after his initial effort was parried by Armando.

Cadiz’s persistence paid off late in the game when Mirosavljevic fired home the consolation from a quickly-taken free kick.

Elsewhere, Deportivo La Coruna thrashed ten-man Celta Vigo 3-0 to move up to third place on 29 points.

Diego Tristan scored the first for Deportivo from a 23rd minute penalty-kick after goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto sent off for towing down Pedro Munitis.

Juan Carlos Valeron netted the second for visitors in the 42nd minute and defender Joan Capdevila completed the rout three minutes later.

Atletico Bilbao beat Real Betis 2-0, courtesy of first-half goals from Ismael Urzaiz and Mikel Danobeitia.