Barcelona, which had kept clean sheets in the eight domestic games before Saturday, conceded three times to lose 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.

On a subdued night for Barca star Lionel Messi, great rival Cristiano Ronaldo started Real's comeback in the 35th minute. The world player of the year's 21st goal of the season came from the penalty spot after defender Gerard Pique stopped Marcelo's cross with his arm.

Pepe punished Barcelona's shaky defending when he headed Toni Kroos' corner into the net five minutes into the second half. And Karim Benzema, who had already hit the woodwork twice, left Real deflated by scoring in the 61st after being set up by James Rodriguez.

With a ninth successive win in all competitions, Madrid moved into second place one point behind Barcelona.

Although Suarez was Barcelona's greatest attacking threat in the Uruguay striker's first competitive match since his World Cup biting incident, he couldn't score during 69 minutes on the pitch.

''I don't regret that he started,'' Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said of the offseason recruit from Liverpool. ''He did more than I expected him to do, and I substituted him for fitness reasons.''