Luis Suarez and Samuel Umtiti were both on target as Barca passed the 38 matches Real Sociedad managed without defeat between 1979 and 1980. Dani Parejo gave Valencia brief hope with an 87th-minute penalty.

The win at the Camp Nou, which was more comfortable than the scoreline suggested, also eases fears that Tuesday’s Champions League collapse against Roma could affect Barcelona’s march to the league title.

Ernesto Valverde’s side are now 14 points clear at the top of the table, before second-placed Atletico Madrid play their game in hand against Levante on Sunday.

Valencia stay third, one point ahead of Real Madrid, who are also in action on Sunday, away to Malaga.

“The value of these three points is great, they are three points of gold,” Valverde said.

“The week has been hard and that hard week affects everyone, including the fans.

“We have not lost much but the game the other day was important and you have the feeling that we have disappointed people. You want to repay them.”

There is no doubt Barca’s shock defeat in Italy still lingers, and may still, even if the Catalans secure the first part of an expected domestic double by winning the Copa del Rey next weekend.

But it should take little away from their faultless form in the league, which means the last time they tasted defeat outside a cup competition was against Malaga just over 12 months ago.

This was already a club record run, now eight games better than the 31 unbeaten Pep Guardiola’s brilliant team strung together in the season of 2010-11.

It would now seem only the home Clasico against Real Madrid on May 6, and perhaps an awkward trip to Celta Vigo on Tuesday, stand in the way of Barcelona finishing the league campaign as invincibles.

“Records are there to be broken,” Suarez told beIN Sports. “The public can be angry about the Champions League, like us, but this is a recognition of the great season we are having in the league, which now seems to have been forgotten.”

– Coutinho returns –

Despite their exertions in Rome, Valverde resisted the temptation to rest key players, with Philippe Coutinho and Paulinho coming in for Ivan Rakitic and Nelson Semedo.

Barca showed few signs of lost confidence early on and after 15 minutes they took the lead, Coutinho drifting in from the right and, after spotting Suarez’s angled run, poking a superb pass in behind. Suarez took the finish first time and swept the ball inside the near post.

Valencia, however, found a foothold and arguably were the better side by the end of the half.

Pique, already booked, endured a difficult 45 minutes and as he and Marc-Andre ter Stegen dallied at the back and the latter’s skewed pass fell to Carlos Soler. Soler played in Rodrigo Moreno but Ter Stegen made up for his mistake by pushing the shot onto the bar.

Barcelona started the second half like they began the first though and five minutes after the restart, they doubled their advantage.

Umtiti beat Gabriel Paulista to Coutinho’s corner and while his header was parried by Neto, Valencia’s goalkeeper could only push it in off the post.

Valencia’s belief was dwindling and two acrobatic volleys, from Lionel Messi and then Andres Iniesta, almost added a spectacular third, as the first flew just over and the second was parried by Neto.

There was time for a tense finish after substitute Ousmane Dembele brought down Jose Gaya in the area and Parejo’s feeble penalty squirmed under the body of Ter Stegen. But Barca’s morale-boosting win was never really in doubt.

The France international scored two goals — the first time he has done so in the Premier League — in a remarkable second-half recovery from United as they won the Manchester derby 3-2 to deny City a win that would have seen Pep Guardiola’s men clinch the title.

It was a defiant response from Pogba, whose drop in form had seen him lose his starting place under Mourinho earlier this year, although his manager does not expect him to repeat such displays on a weekly basis.

Mourinho, however, has told Pogba he wants to see greater consistency from him, particularly in training, with the United manager clearly implying the 25-year-old midfielder has not always hit the necessary standards.

“I will tell you what I told him after the (City) match and it’s exactly what I told him — I don’t expect you to be man of the match every week, I don’t expect you to score two goals every week,” said Mourinho.

“I expect you to be consistent in a certain level. So, if you ask me, I’m expecting Paul now to be man of the match every week? No. If I expect him to score goals every match? No.

“But I expect Paul — and I think that’s the challenge he has to put to himself — to keep a certain stability and not to have the good match and the so-so match and the bad match,” the Portuguese boss added.

Pogba’s form, particularly since the January signing of Alexis Sanchez, has been one of the fascinating sub-plots of United’s season with the player reportedly unhappy at the defensive responsibilities he has been asked to perform.

Certainly, in a more advanced role, Pogba was devastating against City and Mourinho clearly believes his £89 million ($126 million) star is capable of repeating that form in the future.

– ‘Not do anything crazy’ –

“I think he has to try to keep that level of stability and from that stability of course will appear the special match with the special performance like it happened against City,” he said.

“But he has to go for that stability and to go for that stability, the first thing is stability at training level, stability during the working week. And the past two, three weeks I’m really happy with him.”

United’s strong recent form sees them take on West Bromwich Albion on Sunday looking for an eighth consecutive domestic victory and has raised optimism among supporters over their prospects for next season.

But, despite upsetting City at the Etihad last weekend, Mourinho has urged caution and clearly believes Guardiola will spend lavishly again this summer, while insisting United will not attempt to match his City counterpart’s outlay.

“No. We are not going to spend more than we can. We are not going to do anything crazy,” said Mourinho.

“We are just trying to improve a little bit more, to give sequence to it. That’s what we are going to try.”

Mourinho added: “I think Man City wins the title (this season). They have been the best team during the season and the distance of points at the end of the season will be the consequence of that superiority that they showed.

“But it is not about us and them, I think it is about the six teams. Everybody will try to improve like we did from last season.

“Last season we finished sixth and this season we are going to finish I believe fourth, third or second – hopefully second – and next season we are going to try and improve but let’s see what happens.

“Maybe also Manchester City will invest heavily and they don’t let the others close the gap to them, I don’t know.”

The 36-year-old from Buriram covered the 21.1k from Chiang Mai Zoo to Wat Phra That Doi Suthep and back in 1:23.43 hours.

Despite having home advantage as he is training here at the northern city, the 2007 SEA Games gold medalist said it was a level playing field for all those taking part due to the darkness – the Chiang Mai event races on Friday is the only Singha race contested at night.

“I have got used to the route but it was dark for all of us.  My only advantage was that I’m physically stronger,” said Boonthung, whose time was just five seconds behind Jarun Jupor from Chiang Rai, the under 29 winner.

“I actually run up Doi Suthep quite often but never run back down. It’s a bit risky running down the mountain because you can get injured so I didn’t go my fastest to save myself,” added the long-time national runner, who is aiming for a good result at the Asiad from August 18 – September 2 in Indonesia.

Due to the highly competitive nature of athletics in Asia, Boonthung admitted it would an uphill task to even make the podium at the Asian Games, which is normally dominated by Chinese, Japanese and South Asian competitors.

“There are many stronger runners in Asia so it won’t be easy to take a medal from them. My goal is to make a good record and improve to another level,” added Boonthung, whose best attempt in the Asian Games was seventh place at Doha in 2006.

As one of the few Thai athletes in the long-distance events – the other is Sanchai Namkhet – Boonthung has also sets his sights on qualifying for the marathon at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

He needs to run around 2:20.00 hours to make the B standard for Olympiad.

He also explained that a lack of adequate support was the reason for Thailand having a limited number of athletes in the long-distance events.

“We have a huge number of runners in all events but very few will aim for the national level,” he said. “If there is enough support in all aspects I believe there will be more national marathoners in our country.”

The talented 20-year-old from Canada had looked poised to take a comfortable four-shot cushion into Saturday’s fourth round after a battling display on the par-72 course at Ko Olina Golf Club, Oahu.

But Henderson’s round came unstuck with a double-bogey on the par-three 16th, followed by a bogey on 18 to turn what had looked like being a solid two-under-par score into a one-over 73.

The closing hole slip-up left Henderson on nine under for the tournament, giving encouragement to a crowded field behind her who are all within striking distance.

American Mo Martin was one off the pace after a third round 72 left her at eight under.

Martin was two over for the day after 10 holes but rescued her round with an eagle on the par-five 13th to stay close.

Japan’s Nasa Hataoka and South Korea’s Park In-bee are two off the lead on seven under. Hataoka shot a four-under-par 68 while Park carded a one-under-par 71.

Chinese star Feng Shanshan missed the opportunity to make a charge with a two-over-par 74 which left her tied for fifth place on six under, three off the lead, alongside American Lizette Salas.

Newly minted major champion Pernilla Lindberg was a shot back on five under. Lindberg, winner of this month’s ANA Inspiration, shot a one-over-par 73, leaving her four off the front.

Over the week over 300kg of secondhand equipment and clothing was donated by the teams, and very generous generous donations were received from competition sponsors Lanna Rehab, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Flight of the Gibbon, and Daddy’s Antiques.

A large number of restaurants and hospitality venues around Chiang Mai also made donations to junior cricket, helping fulfil the Sixes’ ambition of expanding support for local cricket for another year.

The Sixes raises hundreds of thousands of Baht for sports in Chiang Mai every year, and the incredible generosity of teams, sponsors, local businesses, and other individuals ensures that these essential contributions can continue to be made for many years to come.

In the final game last week, it was like old times at the Chiang Mai Sixes as Bangladesh side NCL Dynamites won the Cup by beating Australian team St Francis de Sales by six wickets.

The two sides were clearly the best two combinations in the tournament but it was Mehedi Maruf who proved the difference.

Having already hit 30 in the semi-final against Kashmir Thunder, he repeated the feat later in the day to be named Player of the Finals.

A busy day was not even put off course by heavy rain which delayed proceedings for an hour as a total of seven finals were decided. Central Spirit defeated Varee Thai Angels to win the Ladies Cup, while Ios Malakas beat Red Lion Wombats to win the Spoon, Drifters overcame Applecross to win the Plate, Lanna beat Roosters to win the Bowl, Got the Runs defeated Yorkshire Puddings to win the Shield and the day finished with Awali beating Summer Saints to win the Vase.

Two of Thailand’s goals, in the 28th and 53rd minutes, were scored by Kanjana Sung-Ngoen, who also helped the Kingdom reach the 2015 World Cup in Canada. Silawan Intamee scored the third goal in the 62nd minute.

Thailand finished second in Group A after one defeat (4-0 to China) and two wins, including a 6-1 trouncing of Jordan, and joined leader China in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup for the first time in 23 years.

Their last semi-final appearance was in Hong Kong in 1986, when they finished third following a 3-0 win over Indonesia. Thailand will take on the winners from Group B on April 17 at the King Abdullah II Stadium in Amman, while China will face the Group B runner-up.

Thailand coach Nuengrutai Srathongvian, who also guided the team to the 2015 World Cup finals, was relieved to have made the finals for the second time in a row.

“The pressure has finally subsided. Reaching the World Cup finals has been our goal from the beginning. But before that we need to develop our team at the Asian level first. Thank you to all the fans for their support here in the stadium and back home in Thailand,” said the 46-year-old coach.

“Kanjana is an experienced player who always shows her potential in tough situations.”

The win was also a big relief for team manager Nualphan Lamsam, who had offered her players a Bt20-million incentive if they reached next year’s World Cup finals.

“In my 10 years as team manager, I felt the most pressure before this match,” she said.

“In fact we needed just a draw to finish second in the group. I’m happy now and would like to extend this happiness for fans during the Songkran Festival.”

The three goals scored by the Thais also earned the team a Bt3-million bonus because Thai football chief Somyot Poompanmuang had vowed to give them an extra Bt1 million for every goal they scored against the Philippines.

“I’d like to congratulate and extend my support to the team for keeping on fighting to achieve their goal. Thank you for bringing fame and smiles to the people of Thailand,” Somyot said.

French club Marseille will play FC Salzburg, a club backed by soft drinks giant Red Bull, in the other semi-final.

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal will play the first leg at the Emirates Stadium against Atletico, led by French striker Antoine Griezmann, who are favourites to win the competition for the third time.

Wenger, whose side play Man United away in the Premier League between the two semi-final legs, had identified Atletico, Champions League finalists in 2014 and 2016, as the most dangerous side in the draw.

“Everybody speaks about Atletico Madrid that they look the strongest team on paper,” he said, but he also described Marseille as a difficult place to go.

The first legs will take place on April 26 with the second on May 3.

“They are a similar kind of club to us,” Atletico Madrid director Clemente Villaverde said at the draw in Nyon.

“Arsenal are a great team, they’re up there every year fighting for trophies and getting deep into their European competitions,” he said.

Arsenal reached the last four of the Europa League after surviving a scare against CSKA Moscow in Thursday’s quarter-final second leg in the Russian capital.

Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey both scored late in the game for Arsenal to calm nerves after CSKA had raced into a 2-0 lead on the night. The London side won 6-3 on aggregate.

Atletico lost 1-0 to Sporting in Lisbon on Thursday but advanced 2-1 on aggregate.

British bookmakers William Hills make Madrid hot favourites to win the competition, but explained why Arsenal fans still have reason for optimism.

“It could be argued that Arsenal need this more than Atletico as a route into the Champions League next season,” said William Hill spokesman Joe Crilly.

“Their Europa League form has been in stark contrast to their Premier League form during the second half of this season and they have every chance of progressing,” Crilly said.

Marseille overcame a first-leg deficit to beat German side Leipzig 5-3 over two legs in their quarter-final, while 1994 finalists Salzburg produced the shock result of the night by defeating Italian side Lazio 4-1 at home to win 6-5 on aggregate.

Salzburg have already beaten Marseille once in the competition this season, a 1-0 victory in Austria. The teams also drew 0-0 at the Velodrome.

“But this time it’s the semi-final so it’ll be different,” Marseille director Andoni Zubizarreta told beIN Sports.

The former Spain goalkeeper refused to accept it was an easy draw however.

“The four clubs have worked a lot to reach the semi-finals and yesterday Salzburg was very strong against Lazio,” Zubizarreta insisted in reference to the four goals Salzburg hit past the Romans on Thursday.

The games will be played on April 26 and May 3.//AFP

The five-time LPGA winner fired a six-under 66 in the second round for a two-round 10-under 134 total at the Ko Olina Golf Club in Oahu, Hawaii.

“Today was a lot of fun, I got off to a really fast start,” said Henderson. “I made a lot of clutch par saves to keep the momentum and keep it bogey-free.

“I feel like I’m in a great spot and I’m hitting the ball really well and I can depend on my putting right now.”

World number one Feng Shanshan, of China, and American Mo Martin are tied for second after shooting 69 and 67 respectively.

Pernilla Lindberg, Park Inbee and Lindy Duncan are tied for fourth at six under.

Henderson made four birdies on her first six holes and needed just 24 putts on Thursday. The longest putt Henderson made on Thursday was a 21-foot birdie on the par-three eighth hole.

“The wind wasn’t as strong early today and there were softer conditions,” said Henderson. “Fortunately it didn’t rain too hard and it helped with the softness of the course.”

Henderson is wearing a yellow and green ribbon on her shirt to honour the 16 players and team members killed in the Humboldt Broncos fatal bus crash. The Canadian junior hockey team was on their way to a playoff game in Saskatchewan when the bus collided with a semi-trailer.

“It was pretty terrible what happened. They’re in my thoughts and prayers,” she said.

First-round leader Feng rolled in three birdies in her bogey free round, while defending champion Cristie Kerr had a 75 to reach two-over 146, six shots back of Henderson.

Hawaii native Michelle Wie shot a 73 and is tied for 31st.

City have suffered their worst week since Guardiola took charge with three successive defeats for the first time under the Catalan coach.

Liverpool romped into the Champions League semi-finals 5-1 on aggregate win by winning both legs of their quarter-final, whilst City also blew a two-goal lead and the chance to win the title against local rivals Manchester United in losing the Manchester derby 3-2 last weekend.

The champions-elect still boast a 13-point lead at the top of the Premier League with six games remaining.

And they could even be crowned as early as Sunday with victory at Wembley allied to defeat for United at home to West Brom.

City thrashed Spurs 4-1 when the sides met earlier in the season in the midst of a record 18-game winning run that amassed their commanding lead at the top of the table.

However, by conceding eight times in three games, Guardiola’s men unveiled a weakness that hadn’t been exposed by their Premier League rivals for the vast majority of the season.

Liverpool’s bold approach has contrasted to most when faced with the might of City’s attacking arsenal and Jurgen Klopp has been rewarded with three wins in four meetings with the runaway Premier League leaders this season.

Likewise, United scored three times in 16 minutes once forced to attack by a half-time deficit that could have been far greater had the hosts taken their chances.

City also looked like a side running out of gas as they let half-time leads slip away twice in the past week after blistering first-half performances.

“The exceptional thing has been 10 months winning, winning, winning and losing just one game,” said Guardiola, whose side need two wins to guarantee themselves the title.

“Now we have a mini-league for six games and we are going to try and close it.”

– Premier League ‘more important’ –

Elimination at the quarter-finals of the Champions League in particular soured a hitherto stunning season from City as their wait to conquer Europe continued despite amassing a squad worth an estimated 853 million euros (£747 million, $1 billion) in transfer fees alone.

However, Guardiola believes delivering the first Premier League title of his reign was the priority for his second season in charge.

“After Tottenham we have one week long week to Swansea, one long week to West Ham just to win the two games to win the most important competition. The Premier League shows how good you are every three days.”

Whilst Spurs were torn apart at the Etihad in December, Mauricio Pochettino’s men have also shown no fear in their previous meetings with Guardiola’s City.

Spurs inflicted Guardiola’s first defeat in English football in a thoroughly deserved 2-0 win at White Hart Lane last season, and can solidify their place in the top four by inflicting more pain on City.

Pochettino’s men hold a 10-point lead over fifth-placed Chelsea, but insists his ambition is to succeed City as champions next season.

“We are in the race for top four and that for Tottenham is a massive achievement to finish in the top four for the third season in a row,” said Pochettino on Thursday.

“That is so important, but the ambition is to win titles and one day the Premier League or Champions League.”

Fixtures (1400GMT unless stated)

Saturday

Southampton v Chelsea (1130), Swansea v Everton, Burnley v Leicester, Crystal Palace v Brighton, Huddersfield v Watford, Liverpool v Bournemouth (1630), Tottenham v Manchester City (1845)

Sunday

Newcastle v Arsenal (1230), Manchester United v West Brom (1500)

Monday

West Ham v Stoke (1900)

Fedor Chalov and Kirill Nababkin scored for CSKA to set Arsenal nerves jangling in the Russian capital, but Danny Welbeck and Aaron Ramsey both netted late on for the Premier League side as they won the quarter-final 6-3 on aggregate.

It was another night of comebacks in a crazy midweek in Europe, with Marseille and Red Bull Salzburg producing stirring performances to overturn first-leg deficits.

Atletico Madrid are also through, and remain the favourites, despite losing 1-0 on the night away to Sporting Lisbon.

Arsene Wenger was without Granit Xhaka and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in Moscow so Mohamed Elneny and Welbeck came in as the two changes to the team that won the first leg 4-1.

Clinging to the Europa League to rescue their season as they languish well out of the running for a top-four finish in the Premier League, the Gunners came close to suffering a humiliating defeat at the CSKA Arena.

The hosts, spurred on by a 29,000 crowd, went ahead six minutes before the interval when Chalov followed in to score after Petr Cech had saved low down from Nababkin.

CSKA hopes were raised further as Nababkin made it 2-0 in the 50th minute after Cech had beaten away Alexander Golovin’s long-range strike.

But Arsenal ended any doubt with quarter of an hour left as Welbeck played a brilliant one-two with Elneny before finishing sweetly into the corner to reduce the deficit on the night and extend their lead in the tie.

Elneny then sent Ramsey — scorer of a brace in the first leg — away to score Arsenal’s equaliser on the night in stoppage time.

“Maybe we were a bit surprised by the intensity of the game and we were not in the races in the first half. We were a bit on the ropes, but we had a good response,” Wenger told BT Sport after Arsenal secured a first European semi-final appearance since 2009.

“It should be every year. It’s never enough. You could see this week in Europe that you had a lot of turnarounds and you need to be completely focused, so let’s be prepared and see who we play.”

“Everybody speaks about Atletico Madrid. They look a very strong team on paper.”

He added: “We’ve played against a good team tonight. I knew that after the first game and they’ve shown that again. They were mobile and technically good and they gave us many problems.”

– More stunning comebacks –

CSKA head coach Viktor Gancharenko added: “We looked very good for 75 minutes and deservedly led. We were close to a comeback but we were not close enough.”

After Roma’s stunning comeback against Barcelona in the Champions League on Tuesday, and Juventus’s heroic effort against Real Madrid on Wednesday, Marseille and Salzburg came up with stunning fightbacks of their own in the last eight of Europe’s second-tier competition.

Marseille, the 1993 Champions League winners, needed to overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit when they hosted RB Leipzig at the Velodrome.

The evening started badly for the French club as Bruma swept home for the visitors inside two minutes, leaving Marseille needing three goals to turn the tie around.

But they did that before the interval in front of a huge Velodrome crowd, via a Stefan Ilsanker own goal, Bouna Sarr and Florian Thauvin.

Jean-Kevin Augustin scored to swing the tie back Leipzig’s way 10 minutes after the break, but Dimitri Payet made it 4-2 on the night in some style five minutes later.

With the Germans sending everyone forward for a corner in stoppage time, Marseille made sure of the victory as Hiroki Sakai netted on the counter-attack to complete a 5-3 aggregate win.

Salzburg lost 4-2 to Lazio in Rome last week but won 4-1 in the return in Austria, despite Ciro Immobile giving the Italians a second-half lead on the night.

The hosts proceeded to score four times in 20 minutes, through Munas Dabbur, Amadou Haidara, Hwang Hee-Chan and Stefan Lainer, to advance 6-5 on aggregate.

Meanwhile, Atletico held on in the rain in Lisbon to win 2-1 on aggregate against Sporting, despite losing on the night to a Fredy Montero header in the first half.

The draw for the semi-finals will take place on Friday.