MADRID — Lionel Messi marked his 300th La Liga appearance with his 31st Barcelona hat trick as the Catalans moved within a point of Real Madrid at the top of the table with a 5-0 win over Levante.



Barca has now won 11 straight matches in all competitions and never looked in danger despite coach Luis Enrique making eight changes from the side that beat Villarreal in the Copa del Rey in midweek.



Messi teed up Neymar to open the scoring early on and then took over scoring duties himself to take his all-time La Liga tally to 269 goals. However, even the Argentine was upstaged by a stunning overhead kick from substitute Luis Suarez to round off the scoring.



Messi, Neymar and Javier Mascherano were the only survivors from Wednesday’s 3-1 Cup semifinal, first leg win over Villarreal as Enrique continued to use the vast resources of his squad.



Earlier, Valencia needed an Alvaro Negredo penalty 19 minutes from time to see off Getafe 1-0 and move back up to fourth in La Liga.



The on-loan Manchester City striker cheekily chipped home the winner from the spot after he had been brought down by Juan Rodriguez inside the area.

 

On Saturday, Real Madrid needed goals from Francisco “Isco” Alarcon and Karim Benzema to beat a determined Deportivo La Coruna 2-0 and ensure it remained the leader.



Eager to make up for its humiliating 4-0 loss at Atletico Madrid in the last round, Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale both hit the goalframe before Isco opened the scoring in the 23rd minute.



Fragile in defense, Deportivo remained dangerous going forward and was stopped only by the woodwork and Iker Casillas’ goalkeeping.



Sevilla beat Cordoba 3-0 in a one-sided match in Seville. Cordoba fell into last place after 10-man Granada drew 0-0 at home with Athletic Bilbao.



Espanyol also finished a man down but goalkeeper Kiko Casilla saved a late penalty in a 2-0 victory at Malaga, as both stayed in the upper half of the standings. — Agencies