MADRID — Barcelona closed within a point of leader Real Madrid after in-form forward Luis Suarez played a part in all three of its goals in a scrappy 3-1 victory at Granada in La Liga Saturday. Barca took the lead at the Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium when Ivan Rakitic smashed the ball into the net from close range after Granada defender Cala failed to clear a Suarez centre in the 25th minute. Lionel Messi twice went close before Suarez ran on to a chipped Rakitic pass and slipped the ball under home goalkeeper Oier to make it 2-0 three minutes into the second half. Barca appeared to be cruising against its second from bottom opponent but Granada pulled a goal back five minutes later when Marc Bartra felled Lassane Bangoura in the penalty area. Fran Rico confidently stroked his spot kick past Claudio Bravo before Barca restored its two-goal lead in the 70th minute. Suarez sped clear, left Oier floundering and unselfishly set up Messi to find the empty net. It capped another fine performance from Uruguay international Suarez who struck twice in Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League victory at Manchester City. Messi fluffed two good chances in the closing stages when twice sent clear by Neymar, leaving the Argentina captain on 27 La Liga goals for the season, two behind top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo of Real. Barca has 59 points from 25 matches with Real on 60 from 24 ahead of its game at home to sixth-placed Villarreal Sunday. Champion Atletico Madrid is six points adrift of Barca in third and visits Sevilla, which is fifth, Sunday. Dortmund blanks Schalke Borussia Dortmund beat Schalke 3-0 in the “Ruhr Derby” Saturday for its fourth consecutive Bundesliga victory. After missing half a dozen chances in the first half, Dortmund's attack came alive late in the match, with goals from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marco Reus in the last 12 minutes. The victory continued Dortmund's escape from the bottom of the table and Juergen Klopp's team is now six points away from danger. Elsewhere, last-place Stuttgart earned a 1-1 draw in Hannover, with both teams finishing the match with 10 men; Hoffenheim beat Mainz 2-0, Hertha Berlin edged Augsburg 1-0 and Bayer Leverkusen defeated Freiburg 1-0. Runaway leader Bayern Munich beat Cologne 4-1 Friday. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Franck Ribery scored the early goals, before Anthony Ujah pulled one back for promoted Cologne in first-half stoppage time. Manuel Neuer had to produce three outstanding saves before Arjen Robben and Robert Lewandowski secured the victory for the defending champion and runaway leader. Robben notched his league-high 17th goal of the season before setting up Lewandowski. Guardiola's team has now scored 18 goals in its last three games in the Bundesliga. — Agencies
