'Monstrous' Messi snipes 400th La Liga goal

MADRID - That's 400 and counting.

Lionel Messi scored his 400th La Liga goal on Sunday, a total his coach Ernesto Valverde called "monstrous", as Barcelona terrorized Eibar to reclaim its five-point cushion at the top of the standings.

Messi drove the ball into the bottom corner after being teed up by Luis Suarez, who added two goals to his own tally either side of Messi marking another historic record at Camp Nou.

"It's monstrous," Valverde said after the 3-0 victory. "It's easy to say, but you have to score them one after the other ... it's a long-term job.

"His numbers are stratospheric, incredible. He is from another galaxy."

In all competitions, the 31-year-old Messi has scored an astonishing 575 goals in 658 appearances for the Spanish giant.

Victory saw Valverde's side restore its advantage over Atletico Madrid, which had briefly cut the gap to two points after beating Levante earlier in the day.

"There is a lot of time left," Valverde said. "It is a good cushion, but nothing is done yet."

Real Madrid also won, beating Real Betis, to ensure Spain's big three all prevailed in the same round for only the fourth time this season.

Real, in fourth place, remains 10 points adrift of Barca.

Messi, meanwhile, extended his own hefty lead as the division's all-time top scorer, which currently stands at 89 goals, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo, now at Juventus in Italy, owns a better goals-per-game ratio, with his 311 strikes coming in 292 matches. Messi's quadruple century arrived in his 435th.

In fact, it was one of Messi's quieter nights in terms of performance, and on another team it might have been Suarez or Philippe Coutinho grabbing the headlines.

Suarez assisted Messi, applied a classy finish and was on the end of a scintillating team move for Barca's first.

Coutinho was the provider for that one, delivering a sparkling display to appease those doubting his future at the club.

The former Liverpool attacker has endured a spell out of Valverde's starting XI but converted a penalty against Levante in the Copa del Rey last week and was arguably man of the match on Sunday.

The Brazilian supplied three passes in the build-up to Suarez's opener. Arthur Melo started it, playing a one-two with Coutinho and then to Sergio Busquets. Midfielder Busquets pinged the ball left to Coutinho, who twice exchanged with Suarez before the Uruguayan, off balance, found the far corner.

Messi's moment came in the 53rd minute and it was Suarez who started it, stealing back possession from Anaitz Arbilla. He bounced it off Coutinho and found Messi, who touched and rifled in.

Barca was enjoying itself as Coutinho flicked the ball over one opponent's head and Suarez did the same through another's legs.

The third goal was much simpler, with Sergi Roberto taking a quick throw and freeing the scuttling Suarez. With the goalkeeper out, he looked up and chipped the ball into the net.

Agencies