Lionel Messi scored two goals and provided assists for two more as Barcelona strolled to a 6-0 win at struggling Elche on Saturday.
It was the fourth time the two sides had met this season, with the Catalans having now scored 18 times without reply against the men from Alicante. Barca put three past Fran Escriba’s men at Camp Nou in August and won 5-0 and 4-0 when the sides met in the Copa Del Rey.
Lowly Elche hung on for most of the first half at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero on Saturday but, once their defence had been breached, Messi and Neymar led the charge as the floodgates opened, the Argentine claiming 60 EuroFantasyLeague points for the week in the process.
La Blaugrana led by just a single Gerard Pique goal at the break, but Barca had all but won it 10 minutes into the second half when Messi scored from the spot after Neymar was fouled.
Reduced to 10 men, Elche were then forced to watch Messi set Neymar up for Barca’s third and the duo combined again as a one-two between them saw Neymar volley into the top corner.
After his two wonderful assists for Neymar, Barca’s all-time top scorer skipped his way past the Elche defence and into the area before driving into the far bottom corner. The Catalans grabbed a sixth as Neymar beat two defenders on the right before playing the ball into Pedro Rodriguez to score.
Messi has now hit 31 goals for Barcelona in all competitions this season, with 21 in La Liga, eight in the Champions League and two in the Copa Del Rey. His 10 assists in La Liga mean he has now provided 10 or more assists for eight consecutive seasons.
While he trails Cristiano Ronaldo in the race for the Pichichi – the Portuguese has 28 goals at the season’s halfway mark – Messi is comfortably ahead of third-placed Neymar, who has 14 to his name. Carlos Bacca of Sevilla and Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann follow the Brazilian in the pecking order.
The Argentine hit a hat-trick in a 5-1 win over Sevilla in November to become the all-time leading La Liga goalscorer with 253, breaking the record set by Telmo Zarra that had stood since 1955. Three days later, he scored another hat-trick as Barca beat APOEL 4-0 to become the top scorer in Champions League history with 74 goals. A third treble in consecutive games followed in Barca’s 5-1 home win over city rivals Espanyol.
Runner-up in the Ballon d’Or to Ronaldo for the second year in succession, Messi is enjoying another purple patch and appears to have put firmly behind him recent speculation that he might be leaving Camp Nou because of an alleged sour relationship with Barca Coach Luis Enrique.
Barca have appeared fragile at times this season, particularly against strong Champions League opponents but, as long as Messi remains fit and scoring, they will remain confident of adding more silverware to their collection.
