Wednesday 20 September 2017 11:41, UK
Lionel Messi was at his magnificent best as Barcelona cruised to a 6-1 success over Eibar that maintained their 100 per cent start to the La Liga season.
Barca made it five wins from five thanks to another Messi masterclass, with his four-goal haul taking his tally to 11 in his past five appearances, while Denis Suarez and summer signing Paulinho both found the net for the second game in succession.
Even with Luis Suarez on the bench, the hosts still had far too much for an Eibar side that had pulled it back to 3-1 through Sergi Enrich before Messi took over.
It was the Argentinian whose penalty set them on their way, won when Alejandro Galvez barged into Nelson Semedo and after Paulinho headed in a second from a corner, it was Messi's saved shot that Denis Suarez latched upon to make it 3-0 early in the second period.
Though Enrich then pulled one back, Messi soon had his 39th Barcelona hat-trick, and his second of the month, as he passed into the net before completing his treble after breaking from halfway in a fine move that also involved Paulinho.
And Messi still had time to grab his fourth of the night three minutes from time as he finished off a one-two involving substitute Aleix Vidal.
