Barcelona returned to their winning ways on Tuesday night with a four-goal thrashing of La Liga minnows Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou.

The word echoing through the stadium: maravilla.

Between cheers for David “Mara” Villa, Alexis Sanchez, “el niño maravilla” of Chile, and the sheer majesty of Messi’s highlight-reel goal, one couldn’t help but marvel.

The much-hyped, three-headed attacking trident of Messi, Villa and Sanchez came together for its best performance of the season, with the Chilean scoring two goals in the process.

With the clasico just around the corner, it couldn’t have come any sooner.

Barcelona opted for three changes to the lineup from last weekend’s defeat to Getafe, introducing Keita, Mascherano and Iniesta to the starting eleven.

With a healthy Andres, the ingenuity returned to the midfield, while the backline performed as it has all season at home, immaculately.

The Catalans have been imperious at the Camp Nou this term, recording a La Liga record eleven consecutive clean sheets, outscoring opponents 34–0 in the process.

Simply put, Barcelona are unbeatable at home.

And seeking revenge, looking to put right what went horribly wrong over the weekend in the capitol against Getafe, Barca would make it a long evening for their guests.

Andres Iniesta made his intentions clear in the opening minute, catching the goalie off his line and striking a volley from the center circle.  The effort nearly went in, as David Cobeno did just enough to retreat back and parry away the strike for a corner.

At the other end Lass Bangoura made a blunder of a good chance at the far post, volleying wide a dangerous defense-splitting cross from Javi Fuego.

Barcelona would struggle to dissect the high pressure and possession disrupting tactics of Rayo through the first twenty minutes, as the hosts looked uncomfortable on the ball and labored to find their rhythm in the early goings.

But as holds true with Barcelona, once they settle they have no rival.

A triple chance in the 20^th minute nearly broke the deadlock, as Dani Alves collected a pass from Alexis Sanchez on the right and fired on goal from inside the box.  Cobeno did well to drive away the initial strike, only for the rebound to fall to Iniesta on the edge of the area, but the midfielder’s effort was blocked at the near post by center back Arribas.  David Villa would win the lose ball and put one defender on the ground before skipping past another and forcing a corner.

Arribas saw his speculative effort pushed over the bar by Victor Valdes in the 23^rd minute before Barcelona took over the reigns and opened the count.

The move initiated with Messi pulling in three defenders on the right before his cross-field pass to Iniesta was filtered through to Alexis Sanchez, alone on the left hand side.  The Chilean drove into the box, posed to strike with his left, cut back to his favored right and sent a stunning curling effort off the far post and into the back of the net.

After 41 minutes, he would have another, recording the first double of his young career at Barcelona.

A wonderful through ball from Messi was played into the path of Xavi, with the captain catching a serendipitous deflection to hit the ball over his head and see it fall square into the path of Alexis Sanchez, as the Chilean controlled with his chest and fired in stride from six yards out into the bottom right corner.

It may have been an accidental assist, but when you look at a player the caliber of Xavi Hernandez, one never knows for sure.  Had it been intentional, dragging the ball with his right foot onto the back of his left heel, so he could loop the ball over the defender’s head at full stride and perfectly into the path of an onrushing Alexis Sanchez, it would be the assist of the decade.  While unlikely, one wouldn’t put it past the ability of old chameleon eyes.

Barca would kill the game off two minutes later after a thirty yard run from Pique sucked in the defense, allowing Dani Alves to beat the off-sides trap and square the ball off to David Villa, who calmly slotted home from twelve yards out.

Messi would round out the scoring five minutes into the second half, playing a one-two with Alves before drifting into space on the right, beating his marker with astonishing change of pace acceleration and sliding a clinical finish past Cobeno for his sixteenth league goal of the season.

David Villa nearly completed the manita in the waning minutes after cleverly flicking Valdes’ clearance past his marker and lobbing his effort over the head of the onrushing Cobeno, but the ball fell harmlessly onto the roof of the net, keeping the game a four-goal affair.

With the game decided, Xavi, Iniesta and Alexis were given rest, as Guardiola began thinking ahead to the weekend fixture against Levante.

Pique ensured his presence in next week’s clasico by forcing a rather comical yellow card for time wasting in the 84^th minute.  Referee Perez Lasa smiled, as Gerard hovered over the free-kick, stalling, waiting to be booked, then feigned dissent over the referee’s decision.

Pique will miss next Saturday’s home match against Levante, as the defender completes a one-game suspension for his fifth yellow card.  By doing so, he is guaranteed to arrive clean for the December 10^th clash with Madrid at the Bernabeu.

The victory over Rayo Vallecano sees Barcelona move just three points behind Real Madrid, with one extra game played.

Levante await this Saturday, offering one final litmus test for the Catalans before their trip to the lion’s den and the belly of the beast.

Article written by Barcaloco contributor Anson Woodring.  Follow Anson on Twitter at @ansonwoodring.

Full match highlights:

Barcelona VS Rayo Vallecano 4-0 Highlights HD 29… by iNfRaS0NiC