Lionel Messi scored two goals and made two more as Barcelona turned on the style in a rampant 5-0 win over Celta Vigo at the Nou Camp on Saturday.
Barca boss Luis Enrique had announced earlier in the week that the next three months would be his last at the Nou Camp, and his men got the beginning of the end off to a superb start when Messi curled the opener after 24 minutes.
Neymar added a second five minutes before the break with a stunning dink over Sergio Alvarez before Ivan Rakitic netted a third amidst shouts of offside. Samuel Umtiti scored his first Barcelona goal after converting another Messi cross and the Argentine magician completed the scoring in his own stereotypical fashion after 64 minutes.
Without a loss in their past 18 league games, Barcelona were looking to put right the wrongs of their 4-3 defeat to Celta back in October and having scored 16 goals in their previous three games, their tenth-placed opponents perhaps travelled to Catalonia at the wrong time.
From the first whistle, Neymar looked like a man possessed on the left getting a dangerous cross away inside the first two minutes, before a training ground move with Messi was thwarted by an uncharacteristically poor touch from the Argentine.
The same pair tested Sergio Alvarez for the first time after 15 minutes after a one-two that resulted in a Messi shot and just minutes later, the final piece of the MSN trio hit the post after nutmegging Facundo Roncaglia; Messi also clattered the framework from the rebound.
Messi was denied a penalty after 23 minutes, but no sooner had the referee waved the appeals away, he was making his way towards the Celta goal. Having picked the ball up more than 40 yards out, Messi skipped past Gustavo Cabral twice and tucked his shot far into the bottom left corner; Barcelona looked back to their deadly best.
They continued to move through the gears, though and drew fouls from the Celta players, leading to numerous yellow cards being dished out by Jesus Gil Manzano.
Five minutes from time, they scored the goal of the game. A mesmerising interchange saw Ivan Rakitic pick out Messi, who subsequently showed the vision of a genius, playing the ball into the path of Neymar and watching on as the Brazilian dinked a stunning finish over Alvarez.
The tempo of the game slowed as the second half began, but when Gerard Pique began to find himself in increasingly advanced positions, it was only a matter of time before a barrage of attacks was launched on Alvarez's goal.
In fact, it probably wouldn't be an understatement to say that Luis Enrique's men had whipped themselves into an unstoppable frenzy, keen to return to the top of La Liga in style.
It began after 57 minutes when Rakitic swept home after Rafinha's touch from Messi's pass was too heavy; replays suggested that Rakitic was offside before he nutmegged Alvarez.
Just four minutes later Umtiti took a leaf from Pique's book and pushed up the pitch; rewarded moments later when he turned home Messi's cross for his first of the season - and for the club.
And as if four wasn't enough, Messi made it five three minutes later. A true Messi goal, he danced in from the right flank, skipped past the Celta defence and tucked his shot past a shell-shocked Alvarez.
From then on it was a case of damage limitation for the visitors. The home side had effectively decided their work was done after the fifth and, on more than one occasion, effectively allowed Iago Aspas to try his luck.
He came within feet of adding to his 14-goal league haul, beating Pique for pace before summing up Celta's evening and firing wide.
A wholly dominant performance from Barcelona who return to the top of La Liga, though they have played a game more than Real.