Match ends, Sevilla 2, Barcelona 4.
Lionel Messi scored the 50th hat-trick of his career as Barcelona came from behind to beat Sevilla and go 10 points clear at the top of La Liga.
In a masterclass from the Catalans' captain, he first equalised with a brilliant volley from 16 yards.
He levelled for a second time with a curling shot from the edge of the box.
Messi then chipped Tomas Vaclik for his third, his 36th goal in 35 games against Sevilla, before setting up Luis Suarez for an injury-time fourth.
It really was a one-man show with Barcelona not playing particularly well as they extended their lead over second-placed Atletico Madrid, who host Villarreal on Sunday.
Sevilla - who are out of form - took the lead twice in the first half from a Jesus Navas counter-attack strike and Gabriel Mercado's eight-yard finish.
Messi does it again
At the age of 31, Messi shows no signs of slowing down. His treble takes him up to 25 La Liga goals for the season, an average of one every 75 minutes. He is nine clear of Suarez in second place and almost twice the top scorer of any other team, Cristhian Stuani's 13 for Girona.
In all competitions, he has 33 goals in 32 games - including six in the Champions League as Barcelona chase the treble.
His third goal was his 650th career strike - 585 for Barca and 65 for Argentina.
All his goals were excellent with his first, a left-footed volley from Ivan Rakitic's cross, a contender for goal of the season.
His second was a fine curling effort with his right foot from Ousmane Dembele's pass. And, with five minutes to go, he clipped the ball over the goalkeeper after Carles Alena's shot was blocked.
Late on he played an excellent ball over the top for Suarez to end a five-game goalless run.
Line-ups
Sevilla
Formation 4-4-1-1
- 1Vaclik
- 25MercadoSubstituted forVázquezat 51'minutesBooked at 70mins
- 4KjaerBooked at 80mins
- 3Gómez
- 14WöberBooked at 57minsSubstituted forAmadouat 58'minutes
- 16Navas
- 10Banega
- 20RogBooked at 49minsSubstituted forMesaat 62'minutesBooked at 90mins
- 21Promes
- 17SarabiaBooked at 83mins
- 9Ben Yedder
Substitutes
- 5Amadou
- 7Mesa
- 12André Silva
- 13Soriano
- 19El Haddadi
- 22Vázquez
- 23Arana Lopes
Barcelona
Formation 4-3-3
- 1ter Stegen
- 2Nélson SemedoSubstituted forRobertoat 45'minutes
- 3PiquéBooked at 38mins
- 23Umtiti
- 18Alba
- 22VidalSubstituted forDembéléat 45'minutes
- 5Busquets
- 4Rakitic
- 10Messi
- 9Suárez
- 7CoutinhoSubstituted forAleñáat 79'minutes
Substitutes
- 11Dembélé
- 14Malcom
- 15Lenglet
- 17Murillo
- 20Roberto
- 21Aleñá
- 30Peña
- Referee:
- Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz
- Attendance:
- 40,761
Match Stats
- Possession
- Home40%
- Away60%
- Shots
- Home13
- Away17
- Shots on Target
- Home4
- Away8
- Corners
- Home3
- Away8
- Fouls
- Home15
- Away11
Live Text
Post update
Full Time
Second Half ends, Sevilla 2, Barcelona 4.
Goal!
Goal! Sevilla 2, Barcelona 4. Luis Suárez (Barcelona) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Lionel Messi with a through ball.
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Foul by Luis Suárez (Barcelona).
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Roque Mesa (Sevilla) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Booking
Roque Mesa (Sevilla) is shown the yellow card.
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Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Simon Kjaer.
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Corner, Barcelona. Conceded by Simon Kjaer.
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Attempt missed. Franco Vázquez (Sevilla) left footed shot from the centre of the box is high and wide to the left.
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Attempt saved. Sergi Gómez (Sevilla) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top left corner. Assisted by Pablo Sarabia with a cross.
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Corner, Sevilla. Conceded by Marc-André ter Stegen.
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Attempt saved. Wissam Ben Yedder (Sevilla) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is saved in the bottom right corner.
Goal!
Goal! Sevilla 2, Barcelona 3. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner.
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Attempt blocked. Carles Aleñá (Barcelona) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Sergi Roberto.
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Foul by Carles Aleñá (Barcelona).
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Wissam Ben Yedder (Sevilla) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Booking
Pablo Sarabia (Sevilla) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
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Jordi Alba (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
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Foul by Pablo Sarabia (Sevilla).
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Attempt blocked. Carles Aleñá (Barcelona) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Comments
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Portugal won a very poor European champs and Ronaldo played very little part in the final. Your bromance is pathetic.
What idiocy... Messi has to probe himself in the EPL? Absolutely not - he’s done it against the best teams in Europe year in and year out - including the best the EPL has to offer. The man is an acknowledged footballing genius. You really shouldn’t expose your limited intellect to the rest of the world on the internet.
"I would have no hesitation of calling Messi the GOAT if he had reproduced some of this form in an Argentina shirt... Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Platini- all did it in a national team shirt... It’s harsh but if you talk GOAT thats the criteria."
And what did Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, and Platini achieve at club level compared to Messi?