Barcelona’s Lionel Messi nets stunning hat-trick in rout of Deportivo

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/18/deportivo-la-coruna-barcelona-la-liga-match-report

Version 0 of 1.

Lionel Messi scored a stunning hat-trick in Barcelona’s 4-0 romp at Deportivo La Coruña to prove once again he is not letting speculation about his future distract him from what he does best.

Messi followed up a brilliant showing in last weekend’s 3-1 La Liga win at home to the champions, Atlético Madrid, with a treble which keeps Barça hard on the heels of Real Madrid at the top.

The Argentinian tormented Deportivo from the kick-off, drawing a save from Fabricio Agosto seconds before Ivan Rakitic found Messi’s run with a lobbed pass over the defence that he headed over the goalkeeper. Messi got his second in the 33rd minute by chipping the ball over Agosto when Neymar’s pass for Luis Suárez fell to him in the six-yard box. His third came in the 62nd after he waltzed into the penalty area and fired an unstoppable left-footed shot inside the far post.

Barcelona were handed their fourth by the hapless Deportivo defence in the closing stages when Alberto Lopo’s clearance hit his team-mate Sidnei and bounced in.

Messi’s hat-trick was his 22nd in La Liga, one fewer than Real Madrid’s Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo, who beat Messi into second place to win a third Fifa Ballon d’Or award on Monday and scored two in Real Madrid’s 3-0 win at Getafe earlier on Sunday. Messi, voted the world’s best player four times between 2009 and 2012, has hit 30 hat-tricks for Barça in all competitions and three for Argentina.

Real, who have a game in hand, top La Liga on 45 points at the halfway point of the season, with Barça second on 44 and Atlético, who won 2-0 at home to Granada, third on 41.