Daily Times

MADRID: Luis Suarez scored twice and Lionel Messi continued his sensational form as Barcelona moved to within two points of La Liga leaders Real Madrid on Saturday with a 5-0 rout of Las Palmas. Madrid remain very much in pole position, though, with two games in hand, the first of which comes at third-placed Sevilla on Sunday. Suarez opened the scoring after just 14 minutes, but Barca had to wait until early in the second-half to double their lead when Messi scored for the seventh straight game. And Barca turned their domination into further goals as Suarez’s second, Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal’s first goal for the club rounded off the scoring. Victory eased a growing sense of unease around the Camp Nou this week with divisions between the squad and the club’s board over ongoing talks to extend Messi’s contract beyond 2018. Suarez criticised Barca CEO’s Oscar Grau’s claims that the club must show financial “common sense” in negotiating the Argentine’s new deal, that looks set to make him the world’s highest paid player. Meanwhile, on Friday, Pere Gratacos was sacked from his role as Barca’s director of institutional relations with the Spanish football federation for claiming Messi “wouldn’t be as good” without the help of his star teammates. “Renewing Messi’s contract is indispensable to our club,” Bartomeu told Catalan TV station TV3 “I always say to Barca fans to be calm. I am personally handling Leo’s renewal. “I have spoken a bit with his team. We will speak when there is news to give. For now things simply have to run their course.”