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Reuters

Lionel Messi marked his 300th La Liga appearance with a record-equalling hat-trick and an assist for Neymar as Barcelona stayed hard on the heels of leaders Real Madrid with a 5-0 romp at home to Levante on Sunday.
While Messi continued to rewrite the record books with another masterclass, third-placed Atletico Madrid’s hopes of a second straight title were dealt a blow when the champions were beaten 2-0 at mid-table Celta Vigo.
Atletico were missing creative midfield pair Koke and Arda Turan and looked a shadow of the side that thrashed Real 4-0 at the Calderon last weekend.
Their reverse at Celta’s Balaidos stadium in Galicia left them six points behind Barca and seven adrift of Real, who won 2-0 at home to promoted Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday.
Messi has been in electric form in recent weeks and his pinpoint cross set up Neymar to put Barca 1-0 ahead in the 17th minute at the Nou Camp.
I didn’t know we had matched that record but it doesn’t interest me
Barcelona coach Luis Enrique
The Brazil forward skewed his close-range volley but the ball looped up over Levante goalkeeper Diego Marino into the net.
Barca doubled their lead seven minutes before half-time when centre back Marc Bartra won the ball near the Levante penalty area and threaded a pass through to Messi for the Argentina captain to score with a low shot.
Barca were utterly dominant against their 19th-placed opponents and Messi made it 3-0 in the 59th minute after neat work from Sergio Busquets and Pedro.
Messi completed his 23rd La Liga hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 65th minute, giving him a share of the record set by Real’s Cristiano Ronaldo earlier this season.
Messi has 31 trebles in all competitions for Barca, tying the record for a Spanish club held by former Athletic Bilbao forward Telmo Zarra, while Ronaldo has 27 for Real.
Messi’s latest hat-trick took the four-times World Player of the Year’s tally in Spain’s top flight to a record-extending 269 goals and the 27-year-old’s total for the latest La Liga campaign to 26, two fewer than top scorer Ronaldo.
Luis Suarez came off the bench to crown a fine Barca performance with a cracking bicycle kick to make it 5-0 in the 73rd minute and Messi came close to a fourth but was denied by a fine Marino save four minutes from time.
It was Barca’s 11th consecutive victory in all competitions, matching their best run under decorated former coach Pep Guardiola at the end of 2008.
“I didn’t know we had matched that record but it doesn’t interest me,” current coach Luis Enrique said.
“We will make our evaluations at the end of the season and if we win titles it will be great,” added the former Barca and Spain midfielder. 
Atletico were a shadow of the side that thrashed Real Madrid 4-0 last  weekend as a fifth league defeat of the season all but ended their title hopes.
    Celta dominated the opening 45 minutes without creating a clear-cut  opportunity, but they were handed the chance to open the scoring in  controversial circumstances from the penalty spot as the referee missed a  handball by Augusto Fernandez in the build-up before Nolito was upended by  Mario Suarez inside the area.
    Nolito stepped up to send Miguel Angel Moya the wrong way from the spot and  could only look on in disbelief moments later when Joaquin Larrivey somehow  failed to turn his cross into an open goal. 
    Atletico were caught on the break 19 minutes from time when Michael  Krohn-Dehli fed Fabian Orellana to drill the ball into the far corner.
    "In the first half I chose a bad formation. I lost 45 minutes in trying to  balance the team to be better positioned," said Atletico boss Diego Simeone,  who had started Antoine Griezmann, Mario Mandzukic and Fernando Torres together  in attack for the first time. "The team started the second half better, but then came the episode with  the penalty. Celta played very well and deserved to win."
 
 
 


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Lionel Messi

Lionel Messi celebrates 300th La Liga appearance with hat-trick

Lionel Messi's 23rd Primera Liga hat-trick brings him level with Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo. Photo: AP

Lionel Messi celebrates his first goal with teammates. Photo: EPA


Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone shows his frustration. Photo: AFP

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