Messi: At the double
Barcelona opened a six-point lead at the top of the Primera Liga following a 3-0 victory at Sevilla on Saturday night.
Pep Guardiola's side now enjoy significant breathing space over defending champions Real Madrid, who lost to derby rivals Getafe earlier in the day.
Sevilla's disappointment at the defeat at the Ramon Sanchez stadium increased as striker Luis Fabiano saw red late on.
Samuel Eto'o opened the scoring in the 20th minute as he took advantage of a deflected pass to curl in with the outside of his boot.
Lionel Messi then extended the lead in the 78th minute before securing a personal brace on the stroke of full-time after rounding Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop.
Prior to Messi's second, Fabiano was shown a straight red card after and off-the-ball clash with a Barca defender.
And the Brazilian will be fortunate to avoid further punishment after members of the Sevilla bench were forced to restrain the forward from confronting the referee's assistant who called the foul.

La Liga goals - Week eight
Osasuna 1-1 Barcelona - Highlights
La Liga goals - Week seven
Valencia boss chasing pack
Barcelona 6-1 Zaragoza - Highlights
La Liga goals - Week six
Real Madrid 4-2 Valladolid - Highlights
Valencia 0-0 Barcelona - Highlights
| Time | Fixture |
|---|---|
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| 20:00 | Sevilla vs Villarreal |
| Sunday 22nd November | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| 16:00 | Athletic Bilbao vs Barcelona |
| 16:00 | Deportivo La Coruna vs Atletico Madrid |
| 16:00 | Espanyol vs Getafe |
| 16:00 | Malaga vs Real Zaragoza |
| 16:00 | Mallorca vs Almeria |
| 16:00 | Osasuna vs Valencia |
| 16:00 | Real Madrid vs Racing Santander |
| 16:00 | Tenerife vs Sevilla |
| 16:00 | Villarreal vs Valladolid |
| 16:00 | Xerez vs Sporting Gijon |
| Sunday 29th November | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| 16:00 | Almeria vs Athletic Bilbao |
| 16:00 | Atletico Madrid vs Espanyol |
| 16:00 | Barcelona vs Real Madrid |
| 16:00 | Getafe vs Xerez |
| 16:00 | Racing Santander vs Deportivo La Coruna |
| 16:00 | Real Zaragoza vs Osasuna |
| 16:00 | Sevilla vs Malaga |
| 16:00 | Sporting Gijon vs Villarreal |
| 16:00 | Valencia vs Mallorca |
| Time | Result |
|---|---|
| Sunday 8th November | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Valencia 3 - 1 Real Zaragoza | |
| Almeria 2 - 0 Osasuna | |
| Racing Santander 0 - 2 Athletic Bilbao | |
| Sporting Gijon 1 - 0 Espanyol | |
| Valladolid 0 - 0 Xerez | |
| Saturday 7th November | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Atletico Madrid 2 - 3 Real Madrid | |
| Barcelona 4 - 2 Mallorca | |
| Getafe 0 - 2 Deportivo La Coruna | |
| Tenerife 2 - 2 Malaga | |
| Sunday 1st November | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Deportivo La Coruna 1 - 1 Sporting Gijon | |
| Malaga 0 - 1 Valencia | |
| Real Zaragoza 2 - 1 Almeria | |
| Mallorca 1 - 0 Racing Santander | |
| Espanyol 1 - 1 Valladolid | |
| Villarreal 5 - 0 Tenerife | |
| Saturday 31st October | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Athletic Bilbao 1 - 0 Atletico Madrid | |
| Osasuna 1 - 1 Barcelona | |
| Xerez 0 - 2 Sevilla | |
| Real Madrid 2 - 0 Getafe | |
| Sunday 25th October | |
| Spanish Primera Liga | |
| Barcelona 6 - 1 Real Zaragoza | |
| Pos | Team | P | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barcelona | 10 | 26 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 10 | 25 |
| 3 | Sevilla | 9 | 19 |
| 4 | Deportivo La Coruna | 10 | 19 |
| 5 | Valencia | 9 | 18 |
| 6 | Real Mallorca | 10 | 17 |
| 7 | Sporting Gijon | 9 | 13 |
| 8 | Espanyol | 9 | 13 |
| 9 | Athletic Bilbao | 9 | 13 |
| 10 | Osasuna | 9 | 12 |
| 11 | Getafe | 10 | 12 |
| 12 | Real Zaragoza | 9 | 11 |
| 13 | Tenerife | 10 | 10 |
| 14 | Villarreal | 9 | 9 |
| 15 | Real Valladolid | 9 | 9 |
| 16 | Almeria | 9 | 9 |
| 17 | Racing Santander | 9 | 7 |
| 18 | Atletico Madrid | 10 | 7 |
| 19 | Malaga | 10 | 5 |
| 20 | Xerez | 9 | 5 |
Sunderland fan Lucinda Gittins was strutting her stuff in the Soccer AM studios this week.
Guillem Balague wonders if Atletico Madrid's new coach can mastermind a shock win over Real.
Quique Sanchez Flores told Revista he is relishing the job on his hands at Atletico Madrid.
Valencia rise to third with victory over Real Zaragoza whilst strugglers Racing crash to Athletic Bilbao.
Barcelona remain unbeaten and continue to lead the way, but Real Madrid are hot on their heels.
Robinho's father has revealed that the Manchester City attacker's future is far from certain.
Real Madrid have refused Portugal permission to call-up Cristiano Ronaldo for the games against Bosnia.
Sergio Aguero believes Atletico are more than capable of winning the Madrid derby on Saturday.