The Brazilian broke the deadlock in what had been an evenly balanced match when he fired home from the spot after Eidur Gudjohnsen manufactured a penalty 10 minutes before the break.

Gudjohnsen added a second early in the second half when he nodded in at the far post after Andrea Iniesta floated the ball across the area following a Ronaldinho free kick.

The stylish Iniesta made it 3-0 with a spectacular finish when he threw himself at a Gianluca Zambrotta cross to volley the ball into the ground and send it skidding past a helpless Mariano Barbosa.

But he was outdone by Ronaldinho who put the icing on the cake when he scored his 10th league goal of the season two minutes from time.

Lurking in the area with his back to goal, the Brazilian controlled a neat pass from Xavi with his chest and then looped a perfectly weighted overhead kick beyond the reach of Barbosa and high into the net to bring the Nou Camp to its feet.

The win left the champions top with 29 points from 12 games, four ahead of Sevilla who travel to Athletic Bilbao on Sunday and six clear of Real Madrid who are at Valencia.