Messi trumps Ronaldo with four-goal salvo as Barca cruises

It was a case of ‘whatever you do, I can do better’ as Barcelona’s Lionel Messi hit four to eclipse Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick for Real Madrid and leave his great rival in the shade once again.

Ronaldo had inspired Real to a 4-0 win over Getafe early Sunday, before Messi stole the show to lead Barcelona to a 5-1 thrashing of Osasuna and become the first player to score in 11 consecutive La Liga matches.

Messi, who recently beat Ronaldo to the prestigious Ballon d’Or award to win the prize for a record fourth time in succession, has now scored 33 goals in the league and 44 overall this season.

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It was also the fifth time Messi had scored four times in a league game and his 16th hat-trick in the top-flight, allowing him to move 12 clear of Ronaldo in the goalscoring charts.

The win for Barcelona means it is now 11 points clear at the summit after nearest rival Atletico Madrid was beaten 3-0 at Athletic Bilbao in Sunday’s late game.

It was a perfect day for Barca, which welcomed back striker David Villa to the starting line-up for the first time in two months.

Four goals from Messi and one from Pedro sealed the win, which was made easier by the 27th minute dismissal of Alejandro Arribas for two yellow cards.

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Meanwhile, Real which hosts Barca in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal Wednesday, moved to within four points of second place Atletico.

After a frustrating first-half, Real scored four times without reply thanks to Ronaldo’s treble and a Sergio Ramos strike.

Jose Mourinho’s side remain 15 points behind league leaders Barcelona with 17 league games remaining.

Elsewhere, Rayo Vallecano beat Real Betis 3-0 to move into fifth, a place and a point behind the Seville-based side and a Champions League position.

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Piti got the South Madrid side off to a great start from the penalty spot on four minutes before Andrija Delibasic and Jose Carlos added second-half goals to make it five wins in six for Rayo.

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In Italy, Napoli moved to within three points of league leaders Juventus after recording an impressive 2-1 win at Parma.

Edinson Cavani scored his 18th goal of the season in the 85th minute to end Parma’s unbeaten home run.

Marek Hamsik’s opener was cancelled out by an own-goal from Paolo Cannavaro, but Cavani popped up with five minutes remaining to seal the win.

Inter sits in fourth place following a 2-2 draw at home to Torino in the day’s late game.

Christian Chivu and Esteban Cambiasso were on target for the home side, but two goals from Riccardo Meggiorini earned Torino a point.

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Elsewhere, Milan claimed its 11th league win of the season with 1-0 victory at Atalanta courtesy of Stephan El Shaarawy’s first-half strike.

Milan is now up to fifth in the league, 11 points behind league leaders Juventus but coach Massimiliano Allegri appeared unmoved by his team’s victory.

He told reporters: “This changes nothing. Today the boys played well but didn’t seal the match and we were under threat till the very end.

“We’re on the right road but we need to keep winning. Let’s see how we’re doing at the end of February and, above all, at the end of March.”

Meanwhile, Mauro Icardi scored four as Sampdoria crushed Pescara 6-0 with Eder and Pedro Obiang also on target.

Cagliari grabbed a late goal through Thiago Ribeiro to earn a 1-1 draw at home to Palermo, who had taken the lead through Josip Ilicic.

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Bottom club Siena suffered another defeat after going down 1-0 to Udinese following Luis Muriel’s 36th minute strike.

In the day’s early kick off, Bolgona and Roma put on a six-goal thriller as each team took a point from an enthralling 3-3 draw.

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In Germany, Bayern Munich went 11 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga with a 2-0 win in the south German derby at 10-man VfB Stuttgart.

Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic and Germany’s Thomas Mueller were both on target as Bayern eased to victory.

Elsewhere, Hamburg overcame Werder Bremen 3-2 in the north German derby, while fourth placed Eintracht Frankfurt claimed a 2-1 home win over Hoffenheim.

There was disappointment for Schalke after it was held to a 0-0 draw by relegation threatened Augsburg.

In France, Paris Saint-Germain stayed top of the table with a 1-0 win over Lille courtesy of an own-goal from Aurelien Chedjou.

Bordeaux gained a 1-0 win at Nice thanks to Henri Saivet’s 58th minute strike, while Saint Etienne eased to a 3-0 win over Bastia.