Lionel Messi scored his third hat-trick in four outings to inspire Barcelona to a 5-1 victory over Catalan rivals Espanyol at the Camp Nou this evening.
The visitors came close to opening the scoring inside the opening 10 minutes when Sergio Garcia's ball to the back post looked to be heading into the path of Felipe Caicedo, only for Jordi Alba to get across and clear the danger.
There was to be no denying Garcia moments later, though, with the former Barca striker firing into the bottom corner after being allowed to break into the box under no challenge.
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Messi nearly levelled up the contest on the half-hour mark when his free kick came back off the crossbar, while Luis Suarez failed to find the target having being picked out by Xavi on the edge of the area.
Barcelona continued to up the pressure as the half-time interval drew closer, with Alba being denied only by Kiko Casilla.
They finally managed to make the breakthrough in what was the last meaningful kick of the half, as Messi curled the ball into the bottom corner.
The second half proved to be a stroll for Luis Enrique's charges, who took the lead through Messi's second of the evening five minutes after the restart, with the Argentine forward skipping past two opposition players and then slotting home.
That came just minutes before Gerard Pique gave his side some breathing space thanks to a powerful header beyond Casilla, but Blaugrana were not finished there, adding two more goals in the remaining time.
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Pedro came off the bench to convert Andres Iniesta's well-weighted through-ball, linking up with Messi shortly after to allow his teammate to roll the ball home for another memorable treble.
Barca's fourth win on the bounce in La Liga ensures that they move back within two points of league leaders Real Madrid, while the Parakeets are down in 12th following this collapse.
Daniel Lewis
