Barcelona hosted Levante in what turned out to be quite an easy win for the Blaugrana as Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick, putting in another phenomenal performance, on his 300th Liga appearance in a 5-0 rout.

The hosts had the majority of possession throughout the game and it didn't take long for the side to get things rolling. While Levante was able to frustrate Barcelona for a bit of the first half, it didn't last long. In the 17th minute, Neymar opened the scoreline following a magificant dinked cross from Messi to allow the Brazilian volley a first-time shot into the back of the net.

In the 38th minute, Marc Bartra was able to go past the Levante midfielders and win the ball before moving forward and providing the assist for Messi, as the Argentine made no mistake in firing a right-footed strike into the bottom corner to double their lead going into the break.

In the second half, it was all Barcelona once again. In the 59th minute, Sergio Busquets was able to chip a fabulous pass over the top of the Levante defence before Pedro quickly cushioned a volley into the path of Messi, who smuggled a shot home past Diego Marino to make it 3-0.

Only six minutes later, Levante defender Ivan Lopez brought down Neymar in the box after 65 minutes to award the home side a penalty. Lionel Messi took his spot kick and placed it into the bottom right corner of the goal to ensure his 5th hat trick of the season, and make the score 4-0. He is now two goals behind Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo with 26 goals in this year's Pichichi race.

It wasn't over though. A moment of magic in the 73rd minute inflicted yet more pain on Levante. Adriano got down to the byline before sending a cross from the left side of the pitch into the centre of the box for former Liverpool man Luis Suarez. He rose before acrobatically sending a sensational bicycle kick finish into the bottom corner, completing a 5-0 win, and Barcelona's 11th straight win since their loss against Real Sociedad earlier this year.

Barca have now moved back to within a point of leaders Real Madrid and look forward to their match against Malaga next weekend before they travel to Manchester to take on reigning Premier League champions City in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Last 16. Levante on the other hand, remain in the relegation zone of La Liga, one point away from safety - they will play Granada in their efforts to stave off the drop next week.