Four goals from Lionel Messi have helped Barcelona to a 5-1 victory over Valencia at the Nou Camp.
The champions went behind after only eight minutes as Pablo Piatti snuck between two defenders to nudge the ball past Victor Valdes.
Barca were nearly level instantly, but Pedro could only fire his shot at Diego Alves in the Valencia goal.
They did find an equaliser on 22 minutes after Messi slotted in from a tight angle.
The Argentinian got his second goal of the game minutes later when he poked in from close range after Alves had failed to get two hands on the ball.
Cesc Fabregas almost got on the scoresheet just before the break, but his impressive volley on the turn crashed back off the crossbar.
The Catalan side hit the woodwork again into the second half as Messi's header drew an instinctive save from Alves.
Valencia rarely threatened, but they came close to finding an equaliser against the run of play when Sofiane Feghouli's volley forced Valdes into a low save.
Any fight that the visitors may have had was knocked out of them with 15 minutes to go when Messi claimed his sixth hat-trick of the season by converting the rebound from Cristian Tello's shot.
Messi scored his fourth in the final minutes with a delightful scooped finish over Alves.
However, they weren't done there as substitute Xavi Hernandez lifted a cool finish over Alves in injury time to cap a convincing victory.
The win has reduced Real Madrid's lead at the top of La Liga to 10 points.
Jack Prescott
