Barcelona, Spain – Lionel Messi scored a hat trick in the 0 win over Mallorca on Saturday at the Camp Nou in La Liga.
Messi scored in the 13th, 21st and 30th minutes, running his La Liga-high mark to 13 goals through just 10 games. Isaac Cuenca and Dani Alves added goals in the second half, as Barca remained unbeaten this season.
Barcelona is one point behind Real Madrid, which also won Saturday, as the duo moved back ahead of idle Levante in the standings. Mallorca is winless in five games and just four points off the bottom in 15th.
Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot with a bullet to the top right, then added his second with a first-time finish from the edge of the 6-yard box off what looked like a shot from Adriano.
Barca followed with its third goal in the 30th, when Dani Alves floated a long ball into the area to Messi, who ran under the pass and used a first-time shot with his left foot to complete his hat trick inside 30 minutes.
Barcelona added two more after the break, and has now outscored its opponents at the Camp Nou 26-0 this season in six La Liga games.
Real Madrid 1, Real Sociedad 0
San Sebastian, Spain - Gonzalo Higuain scored his 10th goal of the season to move into a tie with Cristiano Ronaldo for the team lead, and Real Madrid won 1-0 over Real Sociedad at the Anoeta on Saturday to regain the La Liga lead.
Real won its sixth straight during a seven-game unbeaten streak and moved back to the top of the table with Levante idle. Real holds a one-point cushion over rival Barcelona, which also won Saturday.
Higuain's strike in the 9th minute, off an assist from Fabio Coentrao, was all Madrid needed to send Sociedad to its fourth loss in its last five games.
Valencia 3, Getafe 1
Valencia, Spain - Sofiane Feghouli scored twice in the first half and Valencia defeated Getafe 3-1 at the Mestalla on Saturday to run its unbeaten streak to four games in La Liga.
Aritz Aduriz also scored for Valencia, which is fourth and four points off the pace of leaders Real Madrid. Diego Castro scored the lone goal for Getafe, which is winless in five games and just two points off the bottom.
Villarreal 2, Rayo Vallecano 0
Villarreal, Spain - Bruno and Borja Valero scored on each side of halftime and Villarreal snapped a five-game winless streak and won for just the second time this season, 2-0 over Rayo Vallecano on Saturday in La Liga at El Madrigal.
Villarreal snapped Rayo's two-game win streak and climbed to 13th but is still just five points off the bottom. Vallecano is eighth, two points ahead of the Yellow Submarines.
