Nobody was really worried about Lionel Messi’s goal drought (even if it was his worst since 2014), particularly as the GOAT came into Saturday’s match with six assists in his last three league games, and he didn’t take long to rediscover his scoring touch.
The first arrived after 14 minutes and was worth the wait. The captain nutmegged Anaitz Arbilla and then lifted the ball over Marko Dmitrovic. Two more composed finishes saw him complete his hat-trick with only 40 minutes on the clock.
Messi being Messi, he then added a fourth for good measure in the final minutes to take his tally to the season to 23 in all competitions.