Barcelona beats Levante 4-0

Andres Iniesta scored one goal and created three more to guide Barcelona to a 4-0 win at Levante on Sunday as Tito Vilanova’s team took a major step toward reclaiming the Spanish league title. Lionel Messi was the recipient of two of Iniesta’s assists to score in the 47th and 52nd minutes. Iniesta himself netted five minutes later with a blast off the crossbar before setting up Cesc Fabregas in the 63rd at Ciutat de Valencia stadium. Real Madrid’s loss at Real Betis the day before gave Barcelona the chance to extend its lead over the defending champions to 11 points, and while Levante held on for 45 minutes, Iniesta quickly turned a tightly fought game into a rout after the break. Barcelona has 12 wins and a draw to equal Madrid’s start from the 1991-92 season as the best ever in Spain’s top league. And even though the title race is not even to its halfway point, no team has won the competition after falling nine or more points behind. “The way forward is to keep earning points and doing things well,” Iniesta said. “We have to continue believing and growing as a team.” Messi’s 11th multi-goal game of this campaign gave the Argentina forward 82 goals in 2012, just three shy of the single-year record set by Gerd Mueller for Bayern Munich and Germany in 1972. Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, extended its best club start with a 4-0 win over nine-man Sevilla to remain three points behind the pacesetters. Elsewhere, Getafe won 2-0 at last-place Espanyol, while Athletic Bilbao was held to a 1-1 home draw by Deportivo La Coruna.