Lionel Messi had a hand in all of Barcelona's goals, scoring one, as they trounced Athletic Bilbao 5-2, with strikes from Luis Suarez, Neymar, Pedro and an Oscar de Marcos own goal taking the Catalan giants clear.
Mikel Rico and Aritz Aduriz notched for Bilbao, but they never looked capable of springing an upset against Luis Enrique's side.
The win takes Barcelona up to 53 points and right onto Los Blancos' coattails after they lost 4-0 to third-placed rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
It extends Barca's winning streak to nine games in all competitions, with the Catalan giants turning the screw ever since their shock 1-0 defeat to David Moyes' Real Sociedad last month.
Valencia moved up to fourth as they avenged their Copa del Rey exit at the hands of Espanyol with a 2-1 win.
Taking advantage of Sevilla's 2-1 defeat at Getafe earlier in the day, Valencia moved two points clear of the Andalusians in the fight for fourth place.
Valencia went in front midway through the second-half when Pablo Piatti prodded home Jose Gaya's low cross.
The visitors then made the three points safe when Dani Parejo's fine free-kick struck the post and rebounded in off unfortunate Espanyol goalkeeper Pau Lopez before Sergio Garcia netted a consolation for the Catalans.
Sevilla suffered their second defeat in Madrid in just five days after also going down by the same 2-1 scoreline to Real Madrid on Wednesday.
The hosts went in front on the half-hour mark when striker Alvaro Vazquez was brought down by Diogo Figueiras inside the area and he picked himself up to dispatch the resulting penalty.
Sevilla enjoyed the majority of possession after the break, but it took a wonder strike from Polish international Grzegorz Krychowiak to bring them level as he fired in his first La Liga goal from 20 yards.
However, Getafe secured a vital three points in their battle to avoid the drop five minutes from time when Leon forced the ball home from close range.
Two quick-fire goals from Michel Macedo saw Almeria come from behind to win a relegation six-pointer at Cordoba 2-1.
Fede Cartabia's free-kick had given the hosts the lead after 10 minutes but defender Macedo equalised just after the hour mark and four minutes later combined again with Arsenal loanee Welington Silva to head in the winner.
Almeria have now won back-to-back games and move further away from the relegation zone and on to 22 points, sending Cordoba back into the bottom three.
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