Barcelona’s Argentine World Player of the Year candidate Lionel Messi scored a hat trick Tuesday to give his team a 3-1 win at 10-man Atletico Madrid in the first leg of its round-of-16 series in the Copa del Rey.
“I am very satisfied with the effort the players made tonight,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “We kept up a good level of intensity and Messi was magnificent.” Barcelona is looking unstoppable right now — it leads the Spanish league by 11 points, where it has averaged three goals per game, and has also qualified for the final 16 of the Champions League.
Messi scored on 12 minutes after taking a backheel from Daniel Alves, then drew a penalty that saw Atletico’s Dutch defender John Heitinga red carded before Messi himself converted. After Atletico pulled a goal back, Messi completed his trio with an 80th minute shot into the roof of the net. The tie’s second leg is next week.