Real Madrid and Barcelona will have tougher
tests to come but emphatic victories on their return to action at the
weekend suggest there may not be much margin for error in what is left
of LaLiga’s title race.

Leaders Barca hammered Real Mallorca 4-0 on Saturday before second-placed Madrid swept Eibar aside 3-1 a day later, having led 3-0 at the end of the first half, only to ease off in the second.

Both performances erased fears that had arisen during the three-month suspension due to the coronavirus pandemic, which saw La Liga go without competitive matches for 93 days.

Madrid looked comfortable in their new home
at the Alfredo di Stefano Stadium – part of their training complex –
while Lionel Messi looked fit, with no sign of the tightness in his
thigh that was bothering him earlier this month.

Barcelona coach Quique Setien has not yet decided whether their Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is ready to return to the starting line-up when they host Leganes in La Liga on Tuesday.

Setien
started Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann and February recruit Martin
Braithwaite in the 4-0 win at Real Mallorca over the weekend while
Suarez, who was fit again after injury, came off the bench for a
30-minute cameo in the second half.

Suarez, who has scored 11 league goals this season, was initially set to miss the majority of the campaign after undergoing knee surgery in January before the season was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic in March.

“I’ve not decided if Luis Suarez will start
tomorrow, I have to talk to him,” Setien told reporters in a virtual
news conference on Monday. “We have to be very cautious, it’s normal to
have muscular injuries after a long injury layoff.