Messi hits 21st Barca hat-trick

Lionel Messi hit his 21st Barcelona hat-trick as his 10-man side edged a thrilling 5-4 victory at Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.

Jordi Alba and Cristian Tello got the other goals for Barca, who had Javier Mascherano sent-off on 48 minutes, while a Pizzi double, a Alex Bergantinos strike and an Alba own goal kept the home side in the game.

The win means Barca go three points clear of Atletico Madrid, who play on Sunday, at the top of La Liga. Messi now has 11 league goals, two more than Cristiano Ronaldo who earlier scored for Real Madrid in a 2-0 win over Celta Vigo that kept Madrid eight points behind the Catalan side. Barca coach Tito Vilanova was relieved to win the game afterwards.

“We'll take the positives from that. The three points, lots of goals and we controlled the game with 10 men for a long time. The game was a bit crazy and Leo (Messi) has travelled a long way this week but he was still incredible,” he said.

AFP