MADRID // Lionel Messi's brilliant hat-trick fired Barcelona to a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday that set a record for consecutive La Liga victories of 16 and stretched their lead over Real Madrid at the top to 10 points.
The Argentine World Player of the Year struck twice in 12 first-half minutes and again in the 79th to move two goals clear of Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the La Liga scoring chart with 24 goals.
The victory lifted the champions to 61 points from 22 matches and beat the previous best for straight league wins set by Alfredo Di Stefano's Real in the 1960-61 season.
Real, who suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Osasuna last weekend, can trim the gap back to seven with a win over promoted Real Sociedad at the Bernabeu tonight.
Atletico were looking for a morale-boosting result at the Nou Camp that would keep their hopes of European qualification alive but any prospects of derailing the Barca express were effectively snuffed out by two moments of Messi magic.
His first goal in the 17th minute was a trademark dash in from the right wing and he left several opponents trailing before arrowing a low shot past David De Gea.
The Spain striker David Villa slipped the ball through for Messi to score his second in the 29th. Atletico captain Antonio Lopez got a foot to the ball but Messi dashed clear and clipped a shot in off the right-hand post from close range.
The 23-year-old had a powerful header acrobatically saved by De Gea before he beat Diego Godin to the ball to prod it over the line and complete a memorable treble.
"I am happy with the win against a tough team who are not going through the best time and that could have made things hard for us," Messi told Spanish television.
"I am not thinking about being league top scorer at all," he added. "The important thing is that we continue this winning run as we have Real Madrid just behind us and we know they will fight to the end."
Villarreal earlier squandered a chance to trim the gap to Real to three points and lost their unbeaten home record when they slumped to a 1-0 defeat against promoted Levante.
The loss, their first in 12 home games this season, leaves them on 45 points from 22 matches, six behind Real and four ahead of fourth-placed Valencia, who host promoted Hercules later today.
