Messi hits 3 goals in Barcelona’s 5-0 win

| Written on 13 Jan, 2011 at 11:24 in Football | viewed 1,438 times

Madrid: Lionel Messi celebrated his second straight Ballon d’Or award by scoring a hat trick in Barcelona’s 5-0 win over Real Betis in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, the Spanish champions’ 27th match unbeaten to equal a club record.

Messi, who took the prize ahead of teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez on Monday, was honored before the first-leg match at the Camp Nou stadium yesterday. The Argentina forward then showed why he was voted world player of the year.

Barcelona finally broke through against a composed Betis side in the 44th minute, Iniesta playing Messi through in a one-on-one with goalkeeper Casto Espinosa, who was caught off his line and beaten by a lifted shot.

Espinosa and Barcelona goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto stood out in the first half with a number of important stops, but the Betis ‘keeper could do little in the 64th.