Leo shines on 300th La Liga appearance as Barca win 5-0

Argentine equals Ronaldo’s record of most La Liga hat-tricks with his 23rd

MADRID: Lionel Messi marked his 300th La Liga appearance with his 31st Barcelona hat-trick as the Catalans once again moved to within a point of Real Madrid at the top of the table with a 5-0 win over Levante.

Barca have now won 11 straight matches in all competitions and never looked in danger despite coach Luis Enrique making eight changes from the side that beat Villarreal in the Copa del Rey in midweek.

Messi teed up Neymar for the opener to become La Liga’s all-time highest assist-maker and then took over scoring duties himself with a treble to push his all-time La Liga tally to 269 goals. Substitute Luis Suarez then rounded off the scoring with a stunning overhead kick.

The victory tied Pep Guardiola's best ever run of consecutive wins during his hugely successful four-year spell in charge at the Camp Nou. But Enrique insisted it is winning at the season's end which matters most. "Records are obviously positive, but they don't interest me," he said. "The players aren't overly euphoric because they know how hard it is to win titles.”

Enrique added enjoys watching Messi after the Argentine’s fifth hat-trick of the season sent him joint top in the list of most La Liga hat-tricks along with Cristiano Ronaldo on 23.

“The idea is to enjoy. That is what we are doing, enjoying him as much as possible," said Enrique. Messi’s recent upturn in fortunes has coincided with him moving to a slightly wider position to allow Suarez to play as a central striker and Enrique lauded his ability to create as well finish. “Against teams that play deep and with a lot of players in the middle of the field, we need to have width and move the ball quickly to create danger. It is key for us that Leo participates a lot, makes passes and creates space.”

 

Atletico shocked by Celta

Atletico, meanwhile, were a shadow of the side that thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 last weekend as they suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Celta Vigo.

"In the first-half I chose a bad formation. I lost 45 minutes in trying to balance the team to be better positioned," said Atletico boss Diego Simeone, who had started Antoine Griezmann, Mario Mandzukic and Fernando Torres together in attack for the first time. "Celta played very well and deserved to win."

 
Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.