Topics: El Clasico, Barcelona, Real Madrid, Philippe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho's opening goal and a treble by Suarez sealed another historic landmark for the Catalans.

It took Phillippe Coutinho just 11 minutes to give Barcelona the lead in the eagerly anticipated El Clasico clash on Sunday. With Lionel Messi looking on from the bench after being sidelined with an arm injury, the Blaugrana still had enough men to pull off a great contest.

A cutback from Jordi Alba on the left flank and a tap-in from close range by Coutinho was enough to put the Ernesto Valverde's men ahead inside their home grounds. 19 minutes later, Luis Suarez doubled the host's lead from the penalty spot. 

This came after the Uruguayan forward was tumbled down by Raphael Varane inside the 18-yard-box. Following a brief review of the incident on the VAR, the striker was deservedly awarded the spot-kick.

Suarez further emphasized his dominance in the game by adding two more goals before substitute Arturo Vidal sealed the emphatic win with a powerful header. Suarez, as a result, equalled Lionel Messi's seven La Liga goals scored this season. 

The ex-Liverpool forward reached a personal landmark of becoming the first Barcelona player excluding Lionel Messi to score a hat-trick in El Clasico since Romario did so in 1994.

The feat recorded was not the only positive to take home with Barcelona also entering the history books as a result of Coutinho's opener. The goal meant that La Liga's defending champions have now scored in 22 successive Clasicos across all competitions, equaling the record set by Real Madrid between 1959 and 1969 in the fixture.

In-between the masscre, left-back Marcelo Viera grabbed a consolation goal for Real Madrid. The Brazilian, as a result, attain a personal milestone of scoring three goals in three successive match for ths first time in his career.