Messi scores hat-trick, Levante collapses

Lionel Messi scored his first hat-trick of the season and rompedLevante 5-0 in the La Liga. Messi scored his first goal just two minutes before the interval. Barcelona`s first goal came from an outrageous no-look pass to Suarez. Messi showed his genius again just after the interval. He made a mockery of the ranking system in which he was ranked at 5<sup>th</sup> place for the Ballon d`Or. Messi mesmerised again when he dispatched Jordi Alba`s low cross into the bottom corner before finishing with his third goal from a close range to mark his hat-trick. It was Lionel Messi`s day and the assist to Pique in the 88^th minutes justifies the fact. Barca is on 34 points from 16 games and well ahead of second placed Sevilla and Atletico Madrid who secured the third place. Levante were the only team to beat Barca in the last season in the penultimate game which read 5-4 in favour of Levante.  Barca coach played with unorthodox 3-5-2 combination to rattle the opposition.