Argentine maestro, Lionel Messi returned to form with sensational hat-trick, to help Barcelona steal a win at Sevilla.
Messi pulled Barcelona away from the edge of a black hole with a sensational hat-trick on Saturday, the 50th of his career, earning them a crucial 4-2 win in Andalusia.
In a disastrous first half, it seemed like the Catalans were opening the door for Atletico and Real Madrid to sweep back into the title race, but thanks to Messi, Barca sit provisionally 10 points clear at the top.
Barcelona are facing Lyon in the Champions League while defending the Spanish title against a rejuvenated Real Madrid, whom they face in a Copa del Rey semi-final on Wednesday and again on Saturday in La Liga.
Philippe Coutinho was poor, remaining in some kind of fugue state. The Brazilian playmaker needs to remember who he is and why Barcelona signed him. Until he does, Coutinho just gets in the way.
Messi has scored 25 goals in the La Liga this season – increasing his lead atop the league’s goalscoring charts.
“It was really important to win today, now really tough games are coming up,” said Messi in a rare chat with beIN Sports after the game. “We leave here happy because it was a big triumph. It’s always hard here at this stadium.
“We can’t always play at a great level. We found it hard to finish but today we were ourselves again and we had a great game and the goals came too.”
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