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Barca on Real's heels after Suarez's Granada show

Barcelona's Luis Suarez celebrates after scoring a goal against Granada during their Spanish first division soccer match at Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium in Granada, February 28, 2015. REUTERS/Pepe Marin

By Iain Rogers MADRID (Reuters) - Barcelona trimmed Real Madrid's lead at the top of La Liga to one point when in-form forward Luis Suarez played a part in all three of their goals in a scrappy 3-1 victory at Granada on Saturday. Barca struggled to find their rhythm at the Nuevo Los Carmenes stadium on a poor pitch but took the lead in the 25th minute when Ivan Rakitic smashed the ball in from close range after Granada defender Cala failed to clear a Suarez centre. Lionel Messi twice went close before Suarez ran on to a chipped Rakitic pass and slipped the ball past goalkeeper Oier to make it 2-0 three minutes into the second half. Barca appeared to be cruising against their second-bottom opponents but Granada pulled a goal back five minutes later when Marc Bartra felled Lassane Bangoura in the penalty area and Fran Rico stroked the spot kick past Claudio Bravo. Suarez then sped clear in the 70th minute, left Oier floundering and unselfishly set up Messi to find the empty net. FINE PERFORMANCE It capped another fine performance from Uruguay international Suarez who struck twice in Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League victory at Manchester City after Barca had been beaten 1-0 at home by Malaga last weekend. Messi fluffed two chances in the closing stages when sent clear by Neymar, leaving the Argentina captain on 27 league goals this season, two behind top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo of Real. Barca have 59 points from 25 matches with Real on 60 from 24 ahead of their game at home to sixth-placed Villarreal on Sunday. Champions Atletico Madrid are six points adrift of Barca in third and visit Sevilla, who are fifth, on Sunday. "I think it was important for us to keep racking up points after a tough game against Malaga," Rakitic told Spanish television. "It's always a difficult challenge here but I think we worked really hard and deserved the win." "What was really impressive was the intensity of the team from the kickoff and we have to continue in the same way," added the Croatia midfielder. FOUR-GOAL BUENO In Saturday's other games, seventh-placed Malaga stayed in the hunt for a European qualification berth and closed to within three points of Villarreal when they won 3-2 at home to Getafe. Juanmi followed up his goal at Barca with the early opener, Sergi Darder's thunderbolt made it 2-1 after Alvaro Vazquez had levelled for the visitors 10 minutes into the second half and Ricardo Horta added an acrobatic third for the Qatar-owned club. However, Vazquez got his second of the night for Getafe 14 minutes from time to set up a nervous finale for the home side. Rayo Vallecano midfielder Alberto Bueno hit four goals in 15 first-half minutes as the Madrid club recovered from conceding early on to beat struggling visitors Levante 4-2. Almeria played almost the entire second half with 10 men and had a second player sent off in stoppage time but still managed to hold on for a 0-0 draw at home to Deportivo La Coruna, with both teams hovering just above the relegation places. (Editing by Tony Jimenez and Martyn Herman)