Barcelona stay three points clear at top of LaLiga as Lionel Messi nets 49th career hat-trick in win over Levante

Barcelona stay three points clear at top of LaLiga as Lionel Messi nets 49th career hat-trick in win over Levante
Lionel Messi scored his 49th career hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed Levante 5-0 to stay three points clear at the top of LaLiga.The reigning champions needed no reminder of their last visit to the Ciutat de Valencia, when their hopes of completing an unbeaten domestic campaign were extinguished in a shock 5-4 defeat in May.3

Lionel Messi hit another treble for Barcelona

But a repeat was never on the cards after Luis Suarez opened the scoring and Messi then took over in style with three goals in 17 minutes.Thomas Vermaelen had a chance to open the scoring after nine minutes but he failed to convert a free header from Messi’s corner.Moments later Messi curled a shot wide, but Levante had their moments in the early stages too, not least in the 32nd minute when Emmanuel Boateng hammered a shot against the underside of the crossbar which just stayed out.It was a costly miss as two minutes later Enis Bardhi’s attempt to play his way out of trouble backfired spectacularly.The loose ball fell to Messi, who jinked his way across the outside of the penalty area before providing an improbable reverse pass to Suarez.There was still plenty to do but Suarez, with both feet off the ground, executed a perfect cushioned volley past Oier Olazabal to break the deadlock.3

Luis Suarez celebrates netting for Barcelona against Levante

Two minutes before half-time Messi doubled the lead, this time after a mistake by Ruben Rochina on the halfway line.Rochina’s pass went straight to Sergio Busquets, who immediately sent Messi racing through to fire through the legs of Oier and into the net.Levante had clearly not learned their lesson as, two minutes after the restart, another loose pass in midfield handed Barca their third.This time Suarez led the charge before feeding Jordi Alba, who drove the ball across the area for Messi to sweep home.Messi completed his treble on the hour, Suarez bulldozing his way down the left before crossing to Arturo Vidal, who laid the ball back for the Argentinian to tap in.

| GOAL! | Lionel Messi has his hat-trick! That nutmeg and pass from Luis Suarez was sublime pic.twitter.com/eMMuZdUr9d— Eleven Sports (@ElevenSports_UK) December 16, 2018

Levante’s already slim hopes of replicating last season’s scoreline disappeared when they lost Erick Cabaco to a red card 14 minutes from the end.Instead Gerard Pique helped himself to the fifth, wandering the length of the field exchanging passes as he went before wrapping up the scoring.Sevilla are three points behind Barca in second after beating Girona 2-0 for their first win in three league games.Ever Banega’s 55th-minute penalty opened the scoring and Pablo Sarabia finished off a brilliant team move nine minutes later to wrap up the points.3

Pablo Sarabia kept Sevilla in the hunt for LaLiga title glory

Sevilla’s city rivals Real Betis moved into the top five after netting twice in the final five minutes to complete a 3-1 comeback win at Espanyol.Veteran striker Sergio Garcia put Espanyol ahead but Giovani Lo Celso – who had earlier missed from the penalty spot – levelled before the break for the visitors.Cristian Tello, a former Espanyol player, put Betis ahead in the 85th minute with a brilliant free-kick before Oscar Duarte’s own goal ended Espanyol’s challenge.In Sunday’s other game, new Villarreal coach Luis Garcia, who replaced Javi Calleja on Monday, saw his side concede a last-minute equaliser to draw 2-2 at rock-bottom Huesca. Juan Camilo Hernandez’s penalty put Huesca in front but Villarreal levelled through a spot-kick of their own, scored by Carlos Bacca.Huesca were handed a great chance to re-take the lead in the 66th minute when they were awarded another penalty following a foul in the box by Mario Gasper, who was subsequently dismissed after being shown a second yellow card.Gonzalo Melero saw his penalty saved by Sergio Asenjo, though, and the 10 men of Villarreal then managed to take the lead when Gerard Moreno netted nine minutes from time.However, the Yellow Submarine could not hold on and Samuele Longo’s scrappy goal four minutes into stoppage time earned Huesca a point.

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