Lionel Messi was the star of La Liga’s Sunday slate, scoring the 50th hat-trick of his career as he single-handedly carried Barcelona to a 4-2 victory over Sevilla to move 10 points clear at the top of the table.
Messi scored a pair of absurd goals and finished his hat-trick with the eventual winner, before Luis Suarez finally ended his long goal drought in stoppage time to finish the scoreline. The first was especially delicious, an inspired side-volley that powered home a cross from Ivan Rakitic.
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It wasn’t always a sure thing for Barcelona, who trailed at two different points in the match, including at halftime when goals from Jesus Navas and Gabriel Mercado saw Sevilla ahead. Messi’s second brought Barcelona level past the hour mark when he curled in a right-footed effort from near the top of the box. The winner came five minutes from full-time as a stroke of luck saw Carles Alena’s shot clatter into Sevilla defender Simon Kjaer and trickled perfectly into the path of Messi clean through on goal for a chip finish past Tomas Vaclik.
Meanwhile, the La Liga Champions League places has a surprising new member as Getafe moved to 4th in the league with a 2-1 win over relegation-threatened Rayo Vallecano. Jamie Mata and Jorge Molina scored the necessary goals, moving Getafe into what would be its highest-ever La Liga finish. Mata in particular is red-hot, scoring his seventh goal in the club’s last eight league games. Mata then assisted Molina’s winner, giving him four assists in that span as well, and helping the club to its fourth win in the last six matches. Getafe has lost just two games since mid-November - to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Relegated in 2016 and then promoted back to La Liga the following year, Getafe finished 8th last season and continues to climb, potentially qualifying for European competition for only the third time in club history. A 6th place finish in 2010 remains its best-ever league result, while a 2007 Copa del Rey finals appearance marked the first time they ever qualified for a continental competition.
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Celta Vigo pulled out of the relegation zone with a grinding away point at Alaves as the two teams drew 0-0. The home side whipped off 17 shots, but could only put four of them on target. Celta Vigo proved dangerous one-on-one, but could never put together anything of note. The biggest chance of the game fell to Takashi Inui just past halftime but missed wide right, and while they accumulated a ton of chances inside the penalty area, they could never find the winning moment.
Finally, Athletic Bilbao leapfrogged Eibar for the ninth spot in the table after a 1-0 win over Eibar. The only goal came inside the first minute, with Raul Garcia pouncing immediately after the opening whistle. That was it for the match, as the two sides were only able to accumulate five total shots on target. Athletic should have had a second soon after halftime, but Inigo Martinez was unable to put his doorstep header on target.