There is no doubt in thinking that Lionel Messi is enjoying himself in Barcelona and every match he is showing the intent of the yesteryears – skill, pace and the predator like attitude. Whereas Real Madrid struggled to net any goals Getafe, Barcelona, led by the brilliant Messi thrashed the same opponent brutally.

It took a matter of minutes for him to give David Soria the almighty scare, rattling his crossbar with a sweetly hit shot from the edge of the penalty area.

A few minutes afterwards Sergio Busquets serving up a perfect pass from the deep, Messi ran away from the Getafe backline and slotted the ball past Soria.

Then came the moment of comedy – Clement Lenglet’s own goal, an unfortunate deflection off his knee from Angel’s original effort, was topped by Sofian Chakla’s own error. The Getafe centre-half hadn’t realised his goalkeeper had advanced when he tried to pass the ball back to him, with a retreating Soria too late to undo the damage.

Just before the break, Pedri held a pass up for Messi to volley the first time and the maestro’s shot rebounded off the far post but landed back at his feet, and he was then able to convert from a tight angle.

Lenglet was relieved of his duties and the introduction of Ilaix Moriba saw Ronald Koeman shift Frenkie de Jong to play on the left of the back three.

The replacement of Busquets, Araujo, was caught treading on Enes Unal’s ankle by VAR. Getafe’s substitute striker took the penalty himself and sent Ter Stegen the wrong way.

Araujo’s mistake was erased when headed in Messi’s corner with just a couple of minutes remaining, ending Getafe’s chance of a comeback.

Antoine Griezmann’s penalty in added time, which he won himself, made absolutely sure that Barcelona end the night in the most commendable fashion.

Messi starred with a brace in the 4-0 rout of Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final and followed that up by playing a key role in another victory for Barcelona.

The maestro had a hand in all of Barcelona’s first four goals, scoring a brace in the first half as well as pressuring Sofian Chakla to turn into his own net.

Messi continued his starring role in the second half by providing an assist for Araujo’s goal and passing on the opportunity for his hat-trick by selflessly allowing Griezmann to take the injury-time penalty.

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His brace takes him to 25 league goals, and he is odds-on for an eighth Pichichi award. More importantly, it keeps his club in the hunt for a second trophy of the campaign.

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