Spanish champions Barcelona have regained first position in the La Liga table courtesy of a 6-0 win over relegation-threatened Sporting Gijon at Camp Nou.

Lionel Messi sent the Catalan giants into a 12th-minute lead on home soil, but it took Luis Enrique's side until the 63rd minute to double their lead.

Luis Suarez scored four times in total in the second period - including twice from the penalty spot - while Neymar also got his name on the scoresheet with a late spot kick as Sporting fell apart in the latter stages.

Barcelona had actually dropped to third position ahead of kickoff courtesy of Atletico Madrid's 1-0 win over Malaga, which followed Real Madrid's 3-2 success at Rayo Vallecano earlier in the afternoon.

Atletico moved above Real Madrid into first as the two capital clubs kept their end of the bargain, which placed more pressure on a Barcelona team that had lost their last league match at Camp Nou to Valencia.

The home side came close to taking the lead in the third minute when Sergi Roberto delivered a cross onto the head of Messi, but the Argentine's effort missed the target from close range.

It was Sporting, however, who had the game's first serious chance in the 11th minute. The opportunity came for Alex Menendez after Miguel Guerrero had given Barcelona's back four the slip, but the left-back could only fire straight at Claudio Bravo from close range.

Less than 60 seconds later, Barcelona had the lead as Messi headed home from just inside the box after Sporting goalkeeper Ivan Cuellar had failed to clear the area with a weak punch.

Cuellar might have been at fault for the opening goal, but the Spanish keeper made a fine stop in the 16th minute to prevent Messi from finding the back of the net with a powerful strike from close range.

Alen Halilovic, on loan at Sporting from Barcelona, came close to scoring against his parent club when he struck one from the edge of the box, but the ball just deflected over Bravo's goal for a corner.

Roberto continued to break forward from right-back and the Spaniard attempted to pick out the far corner with a curling effort just before the 30-minute mark, but the ball was always moving wide.

Halilovic was making Sporting tick against his parent club, however, and the teenager played a key role in a couple of fast counter-attacks for the visitors - one of which saw Menendez pass up another chance at the far stick.

Smart work from Neymar should have seen Barcelona score a second as the Brazilian found Suarez inside the box, but the forward could not add to his 30 league goals for the season as his strike deflected wide.

Neymar then had a wonderful chance after Messi had dissected the Sporting midfield with a through-pass, but Cuellar came out to confront the attacker and it remained 1-0 approaching the end of the first period.

Javier Mascherano and Gerard Pique were both forced to clear off the line in the 45th minute as Sporting came close once again and the latter appeared to stop the ball with his hand, but the referee was not interested as he blew for half time.

Messi had the ball in the back of the net for a second time early in the second period, but the whistle had already been blown for a foul on Cuellar by Suarez, who jumped into the away side's goalkeeper.

Neymar managed to find Suarez inside the Sporting box as Barcelona had another opportunity in the 54th minute, but the striker's tame effort was always dropping wide, before Messi curled one past Cuellar's post moments later.

It just was not happening for Neymar in the final third and the Brazilian again failed to beat Cuellar from close range just before the hour as Sporting kept the score at 1-0 entering the final 30 minutes at Camp Nou.

Suarez put the game beyond Sporting in the 63rd minute, however, when the striker converted an Andres Iniesta cross at the far post to move onto 31 goals for the season in the league and 50 in all competitions.

Neymar chipped a delicate pass into Messi as Barcelona came close to a third in the 72rd minute, but Roberto Canella was back to clear off the line. Canella went from hero to zero, however, as he conceded a penalty for handball moments later.

It was Suarez that stepped up and the South American converted to put Barcelona 3-0 ahead and move above Cristiano Ronaldo in the scoring charts in the league this season.

Antonio Sanabria then bundled Neymar to the ground to hand Barcelona another penalty, and Suarez stepped forward to complete his hat-trick and make it seven goals in his last two matches.

Barcelona were then handed their third penalty of the match when Ognjen Vranjes, who was sent off, leaned on Neymar inside the box and the Brazilian stepped up to make it 6-0.

The hosts were not finished though and scored a sixth in the 88th minute through Suarez, who made it four goals in back-to-back league matches as Barcelona returned to the summit.