Lionel Messi Has Scored 31 Hat-trick For Barcelona

Lionel Messi marked his 300th La Liga
appearance with a record-equalling hat-
trick and an assist for Neymar as
Barcelona stayed hard on the heels of
leaders Real Madrid with a 5-0 romp at
home to Levante.
Messi has been on electric form in
recent weeks and his pinpoint cross set
up Neymar to put Barca 1-0 ahead in the
17th minute at the Nou Camp.
Barca doubled their lead seven minutes
before halftime when centre back Marc
Bartra won the ball near the Levante
penalty area and threaded a pass
through to Messi for the Argentina
captain to score with a low shot.
Barca were utterly dominant against

their 19th-placed opponents and Messi
made it 3-0 in the 59th minute after neat
work from Sergio Busquets and Pedro.
Messi completed his 23rd La Liga hat-
trick from the penalty spot in the 65th
minute, giving him a share of the record
set by Real's Cristiano Ronaldo earlier
this season.
Messi has 31 hat-tricks in all
competitions for Barca, tying the record
for a Spanish club held by former
Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra,
while Ronaldo has 27 for Real.
Messi's latest hat-trick took the four-
times World Player of the Year's tally in
Spain's top flight to a record-extending
269 goals and the 27-year-old's total for
the latest La Liga campaign to 26, two
fewer than top scorer Ronaldo.
Luis Suarez came off the bench to crown
a fine Barca performance with a cracking
bicycle kick to make it 5-0 in the 73rd
minute.
With just over half the season played,
Real lead on 57 points while Barca have
56, six ahead of Atletico Madrid.
La Liga top scorers:
28 Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
26 Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
17 Neymar (Barcelona)