La Liga: Neymar hat-trick, Messi double as Barca crush Granada

Neymar

Neymar hit a hat-trick and Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona enjoyed a resounding 6-0 victory over Granada on Saturday to continue to set the pace at the top of La Liga.

Barca got back on track with the perfect response after they drew 0-0 at Malaga on Wednesday without a shot on target and they now have 16 points from six games.

Cristiano Ronaldo kept up his rich scoring form with the second goal for Real Madrid in a 2-0 win at Villarreal after Luka Modric had put them ahead. They are fourth on 12 points.

Neymar broke Granada's stubborn resistance with a scrappy goal midway through the first half when his shot hit Jean-Sylvain Babin and looped over keeper Roberto Fernandez.

Then in the run up to halftime Granada's concentration slipped as Ivan Rakitic headed home a Messi cross and Neymar got his second.

Fernandez got to a Messi pass just ahead of Munir El Haddadi but he could only push the ball towards Neymar who knocked it into an open net.

A fine move led to Dani Alves volleying a cross for Messi to head home the fourth after 65 minutes and then Neymar was on target again as he confidently picked his spot in the corner four minutes later to complete his treble.

Messi got his second goal by stealing the ball off Jeison Murillo and then slotting past the keeper. It was his 400th goal overall with 358 for Barca and 42 for Argentina. “We knew the game against Malaga was going to be difficult the same as against Granada but here we have been patient and shown better movement,” Rakitic told reporters.

“We had to work hard. The fact that we haven’t conceded a goal yet is not a coincidence but due to the effort we are putting in.” Later on Saturday, champions Atletico Madrid entertain third-placed Sevilla.

Villarreal were able to match Real's slick passing for much of the game but their finishing let them down. Modric gave the visitors the lead on the half hour with a drive into the corner from 20 metres.

Carlo Ancelotti gave his attacking players licence to exchange position and Karim Benzema, returning to the side, picked out Ronaldo to finish clinically in the centre of the penalty area five minutes from the break. It was his 10th league goal this season. Villarreal continued to press forward after the restart with Mario Gaspar and Gabriel going close with efforts but following the high tempo of the first half both teams began to run out of steam.

“The best aspect is that we won a difficult game against a side that played very well,” Ancelotti told a news conference. “We controlled the game. We had to suffer at times and at others we were able to play our football. It was a good game from us where we had a good attitude and we deserved to win.