Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick to become Barcelona's all-time leading scorer and keep Barcelona in the title chase with a 5-3 win over Granada on Tuesday.
Argentine takes his tally to 234 goals for Catalan giants
Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick to become Barcelona's all-time leading scorer and keep the defending Spanish champions in the title chase with a 5-3 win over Granada on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Osasuna and Getafe played out a dull goalless encounter at the Reyno de Navarra Stadium in Pamplona.
Barcelona closed the gap on league leaders Real Madrid to five points after Messi inspired the Catalan giants to a thumping home win against gutsy
Granada at Camp Nou.
Less than two weeks after scoring a UEFA Champions League record five times, the three-time world player of the year took his career club tally to 234 goals, beating a 57-year-old milestone held by Cesar Rodriguez by two goals.
Messi set up Xavi Hernandez's opener before extending Barcelona's lead in the 17th.
And after Granada, who had only scored 27 goals all season prior to this game rallied with two quick goals after half-time, Messi scored twice more to secure the win.
Barcelona's sixth consecutive league victory provisionally reduced Madrid's advantage before their game at Villarreal on Wednesday night.
Osasuna and
Getafe drew 0-0 in the first game of a full round of midweek fixtures in La Liga.
The result means both teams edge a point closer to the objective of safety that both managers have set for their sides this week.
However, an Osasuna victory would have temporarily placed the side from Pamplona in fourth position and in a Champions League qualifying place.
Instead Osasuna remain sixth on 40 points, a point behind fourth placed Levante, while Getafe sit four points behind in 11th.
The game burst into life just before half-time when first Juan Martinez 'Nino' for Osasuna and then Jose Jimenez 'Mane' for Getafe had good chances to open the scoring.
However the second-half failed to continue in the same vein and chances were scarce as both teams seemed content to record a third sucessive goalless draw in this fixture.
