Messi leads Barca to friendly rout

Madrid: Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick on Saturday as Barcelona beat Raja Casablanca 8-0 in a friendly at the Grand Stade in Tangier.

Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring for Barca in the 14th minute when he converted a cross from Dani Alves, before Messi doubled his side`s advantage twenty minutes later when he latched onto a through-ball by Ibrahim Afellay and coolly lobbed the onrushing Yassine El Had.

The Argentinean then grabbed his second seven minutes before the break when he stole possession from Chem-Eddine Chtibi and found the back of the net, and shortly after, Sanchez followed suit by doubling his tally on the rebound following a fierce shot from Alves.

Right on the stroke of halftime, Messi completed his hat-trick after some fine link-up play with Sanchez, before Alves got on the scoresheet from the penalty spot in the 58th minute.

With the game all but won, Tito Vilanova`s men eased up in the final quarter of the game but still managed to add two more goals through youngsters Sergi Roberto and Gerard Deulofeu in the last three minutes.

BDST: 1932 HRS, July 29, 2012
Edited by
Chanchal Ghosh, Newsroom Editor