After a slow start, the hosts were sparked into life by Messi’s opening goal as he flicked home at the near post from Alexis Sanchez’s cross.
Sanchez was next on the scoresheet as he finished off a similar move involving Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba before Iniesta’s wonderful strike from 25 yards made it 3-0.
Messi then broke another record by registering his 370th Barca goal to overtake Paulinho Alcantara as the club’s record marksman before rounding off his hat-trick in between further strikes from Cristian Tello and Pedro Rodriguez.
“To enter into the history of this club is spectacular,” Messi told Barca TV.
“If you play in this team it is much easier. This group continues to do great things and I think it deserves to continue winning things.”
Next up for Barcelona is a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu next Sunday and Messi is sure they can get themselves back into the title race by ending Madrid’s five-month unbeaten run in all competitions.
Source: supersport
