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Sweet assists from sub Suarez send Neymar, Barca past Almeria (video)

Neymar da Silva, Jordi Alba, Luis Alberto Suárez

FC Barcelona’s Jordi Alba, center, celebrates his goal with teammates Luis Alberto Suarez from Uruguay, right, and Neymar da Silva from Brazil, left, during a Spanish La Liga soccer match against UD Almeria in Almeria, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014. (AP Photo/Daniel Tejedor)

AP

Luis Enrique pushed the right buttons to pull Barcelona from its La Liga doldrums, using some high-profile substitutes to spur the Blaugranas to a come-from-behind 2-1 win against lowly Almeria.

Coming off losses to Real Madrid and Celta Vigo in league play after starting the season 8-0 without conceding a single goal, Enrique left the following names on the bench against Almeria: Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique, Neymar, Xavi, Dani Alves.

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And while a few of those names weren’t surprising, it was Suarez and Neymar who teamed up -- along with Jordi Alba -- to spring the comeback after Congolese 22-year-old attacker Thievy Bifouma put Almeria ahead in the 37th minute.

Neymar and Suarez entered for Muni El Haddadi and Pedro, respectively, at halftime and turned the 1-0 Almeria lead on its head.

First Suarez passed a square ball to Neymar to tap home in the 73rd minute before giving a through ball for Alba to finish in the 82nd.

Barca briefly leapt atop the table before Real Madrid dispatched Rayo Vallecano 5-1 on goals from Gareth Bale, Toni Kroos, Sergio Ramos, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo. Los Merengues are again two points ahead of their Catalan rivals.

Follow @nicholasmendola