La Liga: Messi magic floors Real Betis

Bengaluru, March 18: Barcelona talisman Lionel Messi was lauded by opposition supporters after he scored an outstanding hat-trick in the Catalan's 4-1 win at Real Betis, which put the champions 10 points clear at the top of La Liga with 10 games remaining.

With Barcelona's nearest challengers Atletico Madrid falling to a 0-2 defeat at Athletic Bilbao the previous day, Messi got Barca off to an ideal start by drilling a free kick into the top corner of the net in the 18th minute.

The Argentinian put Barcelona further at ease with another strike at the end of the first half, finishing off a backheeled pass from Luis Suarez as the two South American forwards carved their way through Betis's defence.

Uruguay forward Suarez had missed several clear chances to score but he finally got his reward for a lively performance with a goal in the 63rd minute, dancing past four Betis players on a dazzling run which began in his own half.

Loren Moron pulled one back for Betis in the 82nd minute but Messi replied with a sumptuous first-time lob in off the crossbar to complete his treble and the Betis supporters responded by chanting the Argentinian's name and bowing down to him.

It was an utterly dominant performance from the La Liga leaders which avenged their 3-4 loss at home to Betis in November and took them on to 66 points after 28 games, while Atletico have 56 and third-placed Real Madrid have 54.

La Liga results | Points table

There were worries for Barca at the end of the game, however. Suarez, clearly in pain, had to receive treatment on the sidelines and Barca later confirmed he had sprained his ankle and would undergo tests on Monday to determine how long he would be out.

Messi, who scored twice in Barca's 5-1 win over FC Lyon in the Champions League , now has 29 goals in 26 La Liga appearances and 39 strikes in all competitions.

Still, he was taken aback by the applause he received from the Betis fans.

📍 Benito Villamarín
👏👏👏 Tremendous gesture from the @RealBetis fans as they recognise that the Leo #Messi magic is something for everyone to enjoy. Bravo!
👍 #FairPlay pic.twitter.com/IiZUmSPhjb

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 17, 2019

"I cannot remember anything like this before and I'm very grateful for the fans' reaction. I'm very grateful to them and happy for the victory, which was very important," said Messi.

"We were playing against a team that treats the ball very well but the coach read the game perfectly from a tactical point of view."

Messi said his team were extra eager to beat Betis after Atletico's defeat in Bilbao whilst adding that the title race was not yet over.

🔥 2018/19 in the 'Big 5' European leagues

✅ Most goals from direct free kicks (4⚽)
✅ Most goals from outside the area (7⚽)

⭐😍 LEO MESSI 😍⭐ pic.twitter.com/42mQstBJyt

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) March 17, 2019

"It was a very good chance to increase our distance at the top, we knew about Atletico's result and we couldn't afford to not take it," he said.

(With inputs from Agencies)