Title getting closer, says Luis Suarez

Luis Suarez believes Barcelona are edging closer to the Primera Division title after their hard-fought 2-1 win at Las Palmas.

The Uruguayan put the Catalans in charge by converting Jordi Alba's cross less than five minutes in, while Neymar restored their lead before half-time after Willian Jose had levelled for the hosts.

Luis Enrique's side were made to sweat after the break as the struggling Canary Islanders missed four clear chances to draw level again.

Barcelona will be at least six points clear of closest challengers Atletico Madrid by the end of the weekend and Suarez believes the resolve his side showed means they are well placed to retain the title.

"It's always good to play in a different way when the game is going well for you, but it's games like this which win you league titles and you also enjoy them," Suarez told Canal Plus.

"If you want to win titles you have to suffer and we have had to suffer in a couple of our recent games away from home, but the great thing is we got the win."

The trip to the Canary Islands was Barca's 14th match since the turn of the year and Suarez admitted tiredness may have affected them against Las Palmas, who remain in the relegation zone after the defeat.

"It's not an excuse but we know that we've played a lot of games in the last month and a half. But every player always wants to play regularly and as often as possible," said the former Liverpool man.

Barca coach Luis Enrique admitted his side did not put in the strongest of displays.

"We competed and we fought for everything and I'll return home thinking that we should improve certain things, but I'm happy with the result," he told a press conference.

"I don't think we played at a slower pace, and at some points we got hit on the break because we were so keen to attack quickly. We suffered in the last 10 minutes because they really pushed us rather than because of our errors."

Next up for Barcelona is a trip to London to face Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Tuesday.

And Enrique admitted the Gunners could trouble his side.

He said: "We are talking about a game that will be decided over 180 minutes, it's going to be difficult because our opponents could cause us problems."