Barcelona 6 Celta Vigo 1
Lionel Messi handed strike-partner Luis Suarez a hat-trick on a plate with an audaciously taken penalty as Barcelona hit Celta Vigo for six.
The Argentinian rolled his 81st-minute spot-kick into Suarez’s path to allow him to complete his treble as Barca recovered from a low-key start to win 6-1 and maintain their place at the top of the Primera Division table.
Had Messi scored the penalty himself, it would have been his 300th Primera Division goal.
Barca were far from their fluent best before the break, but took a 20th-minute lead when Messi, having gone close with an earlier attempt, curled a superb free-kick over the wall and beyond keeper Sergio Alvarez’s despairing dive.
But the lead was extinguished six minutes before the break when, having been tripped by defender Jordi Alba, Celta striker John Guidetti converted the resulting penalty despite keeper Claudio Bravo going the right way.
Suarez restored the home side’s lead when he played a delicious 59th-minute one-two with Messi and nonchalantly dispatched the return pass, and it was 3-1 15 minutes from time when he stabbed Neymar’s shot over the line after Messi and the Brazilian had torn the visitors apart.
The Uruguay striker completed his hat-trick in outrageous fashion from Messi’s penalty, and further goals from substitute Ivan Rakitic and Neymar completed the rout as time ran down.
Getafe 0 Atletico Madrid 1
Fernando Torres had earlier eased Atletico Madrid back above Real Madrid and into second place as his early strike secured a 1-0 win at local rivals Getafe.
Torres struck with just two minutes gone, firing home from Yannick Carrasco’s cross to ensure the visitors left the Coliseum Alfonso Perez with all three points.
Fifth-placed Sevilla left it late to get the better of lowly Las Palmas at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan before wrapping up a 2-0 win inside six second-half minutes.
Ever Banega put them ahead with 69 minutes gone and Kevin Gameiro cemented victory with quarter of an hour remaining.
Real Sociedad 3 Granada 0
Granada remain just one place off the foot of the table after a 3-0 defeat at Real Sociedad.
Striker Mikel Oyarzabal did the bulk of the damage with a goal in either half, opening the scoring after 21 minutes and then after Brazilian Jonathas had made it 2-0 on the stroke of half-time, completing the job on the hour.
Eibar 2 Levante 0
Levante, the only side worse off than Granada, slipped to an eighth defeat in 10 league outings when they lost 2-0 at Eibar.
Frontman Borja Baston set the home side on their way with a close-range 37th-minute strike — his 16th goal of the season — and defender Tono’s own goal 13 minutes after the restart confirmed the win.
