Barcelona finally rediscovered their goal touch, thrashing crisis club Valencia 6-0 Sunday in front of a relieved Camp Nou, the dpa reported.
The handsome win, however, does not restore Barca to second place. Villarreal are still second thanks to a 2-0 defeat of Getafe earlier Sunday.
Villarreal now have 68 points from 35 games, four more than Barca, and are now seven points behind leaders Real Madrid, who will clinch their 31st Liga title if they win later Sunday at lowly Osasuna.
Manuel Pellegrini's team beat Getafe thanks to two clever goals just before half-time from little Nihat Kahveci, one of the outstanding players of the Spanish season.
Barca kicked off against Valencia in an ambience of pessimism after failing to score for a month. But the goal drought was quickly broken with early goals from Lionel Messi and Xavi Hernandez.
The much-criticized Thierry Henry then took centre stage with two more goals before half-time, with the pathetic Valencia defence shipping water.
On the hour, 17-year-old Bojan Krkic came off the bench and added to Valencia's misery with two more goals, completing the rout.
"It was good to give the fans something to shout about at last," the teenage idol told radio station Cadena SER.
In fourth place, six points behind Barca, are Atletico Madrid, who thrashed Recreativo Huelva 3-0 Saturday.
Two points behind Atletico in sixth place, are Racing Santander, who came back from 2-0 down to beat Murcia 3-2. The latest defeat condemns Murcia to relegation along with bottom team Levante, who drew 1-1 with Espanyol.
There are six candidates for the third relegation place.
Joint third from bottom on 40 points are Huelva and Osasuna.
Zaragoza are now on 41 points following Saturday's last-gasp 1-0 defeat of Deportivo Coruna.
Then come three teams on 42 points: Valencia, Valladolid and Getafe, all of whom lost Sunday.
Valladolid went down 2-0 against sixth-placed Sevilla, for whom Renato scored twice.