Lionel Messi was once again, for all the right reasons, in the news as he scored four goals against Eibar in a Spanish La Liga game played at the Camp Nou.

The Argentine was in an impeccable form as he scored a first-half hattrick after failing to get on the score sheet in Barcelona’s last 4 games.

Messi’s last goals had come in the 5-0 beating of Leganes on the 30th of January in the Copa Del Rey Quarter-Finals, where he scored a brace.

However, on Saturday, his first goal of the quartet came in the 14th minute when he scored from an Ivan Rakitic’s assist. He added another in the 37th minute this time from an Arturo Vidal assist.

The Hattrick was completed with five minutes left in the first half as he scored from an individual effort to take the game way off and beyond the visitors.

The second half was largely silent as the biggest talking point was from the introduction of Denmark’s striker Martin Braithwaite who was signed during the week as an emergency striker for the injured Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez who is also out on a long term.

However, rather than get overshadowed by the performances of the six-time Balon D’Or winner, the former Leganes and Middlebrough striker assisted the skipper for his fourth and final goal In the 87th minute.

There was still time for one more as, two minutes later, Arthur scored to round off a comprehensive 5-0 victory for the Catalan.

It is Barca’s fourth win in 5 games in all competitions as the 1-0 loss to Athletico Bilbao on the 6th of February, the only blip in their winning streak.

Eibar remains woeful as they have lost three and drawn two of their last 5 La Liga games played as their last win came in a 2-0 win against Atletico Madrid on the 18th of January.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu