On Saturday, four matches of the 25th round of the Spanish "La Liga" championship were played.
An intriguing clash took place in Seville, where "Sevilla" welcomed the players of "Barcelona" with the support of their fans. Despite leading the match twice, the Andalusians once again felt the power of Lionel Messi - the Argentine's goals secured a very important victory for the Catalans in the battle for the title.
The hosts started the match well - in the 22nd minute, Jesus Navas put "Sevilla" ahead. However, the Catalans wasted no time in responding - just four minutes later, Lionel Messi equalized the score with a fantastic strike.
This did not disrupt the balance of the "Sevilla" team - in the 42nd minute, unexpectedly, defender Gabriel Mercado regained the lead for the hosts after a great pass from Pablo Sarabia.
In the second half, "Sevilla" did not play as energetically, allowing "Barca" to completely take control of the match.
In the 67th minute, the score became level again - Lionel Messi scored another amazing goal. The Argentine's show did not end there - in the 83rd minute, Messi scored his third goal, but this time luck was on the side of the visitors, as the ball ricocheted off the goalkeeper and went straight to the defender's foot, who put the ball into the net from a few meters away.
At the end of the match, Luis Suarez also contributed to the scoreline, ending his goal drought with an assist from L. Messi.
With their second consecutive victory, "Barca" pulled away from second-placed "Atletico" by at least 10 points. "Sevilla" dropped out of the top four after the defeat.
Sensationally performing this season, Madrid's "Getafe" moved into fourth place. The capital's team defeated "Rayo Vallecano" and gained a two-point advantage over the Andalusians.
In another match, "Alaves" and "Celta" ended in a goalless draw, while Bilbao's "Athletic" defeated "Eibar" by a minimal margin.
Results:
"Sevilla" 2 - 4 "Barcelona" 22' [1 - 0] J. Navas 26' [1 - 1] L. Messi 42' [2 - 1] G. Mercado 67' [2 - 2] L. Messi 85' [2 - 3] L. Messi 90+3' [2 - 4] L. Suarez
"Getafe" 2 - 1 "Rayo" 28' [1 - 0] J. Mata 58' [1 - 1] R. De Tomas 68' [2 - 1] J. Molina
"Alaves" 0 - 0 "Celta"
"Athletic" 1 - 0 "Eibar" 1' [1 - 0] R. Garcia
League table:
