Lionel Messi struck a brilliant second half hat-trick to give Barcelona a 3-0 victory over Valencia at the Nou Camp on Sunday night.Following an evenly-disputed first period in which Valencia gave as good as they got, Messi took centre stage with a spectacular treble.
The winger beat three Valencia players to give Pep Guardiola's side the lead after 56 minutes, before adding two more fine efforts in the closing stages - both set up by substitute Thierry Henry - after the visitors had been reduced to 10 men following the sending-off of Hedwiges Maduro.
Both teams were missing their star strikers for this match.
Barca's Zlatan Ibrahimovic was out through suspension, while Valencia's David Villa failed to recover from a shoulder injury in time.
Ibrahimovic's absence meant a rare start for Bojan Krkic, but the youngster was ineffectual on the left-hand side as Barca struggled to find their rhythm early on.
It was Valencia who got off to the better start and the visitors threatened after just five minutes, when Jordi Alba's bullet header flew just over the bar following Alejandro Dominguez's right-wing cross.
Dominguez, a transfer window signing from Rubin Kazan, had already tasted victory at the Nou Camp this season with the Russian side in the Champions League.
And it looked as if he may do so again as Valencia continued to impress.
Miguel drove a speculative effort well over the crossbar from distance after a Valencia counter-attack had broken down.
And Pablo Hernandez twice tested Victor Valdes from similar positions inside the Barca area.
Valdes was also alert to the danger as he cleared a Dominguez back-post lay-off with his feet from a well-worked Valencia free-kick.
As the half wore on, however, Barca began to discover their usual attacking verve and Guardiola's side ended the half on top.
Messi robbed Angel Dealbert and saw his low shot pushed wide by Cesar Sanchez and Pedro dragged a right-footed effort off-target after he was set up by Xavi.
Guardiola - who was suspended and watched on from the stands - changed things at the interval with the introduction of Henry for the disappointing Bojan.
And the Catalans looked back to their usual selves as the second half got under way with Henry making an instant impact.
The France forward, much-maligned for his off-colour performances this term, set up Messi in a flowing team move which culminated in Cesar Sanchez saving the Argentinian's low shot with the slightest touch from his left shin.
Henry threatened again with a header shortly afterwards, but Cesar saved once more.
Barca were on top now, though, and it seemed only a matter of time before they went ahead.
And so it proved as Messi took possession some 30 yards from goal after 56 minutes, waltzed past three Valencia players and slotted a clinical low shot past Cesar to give Barca the breakthrough.
Three dramatic incidents then occurred in the space of two minutes.
First, Maxwell saw an effort ruled out for offside after Cesar had spilled Xavi's shot.
Straight away at the other end, substitute Nikola Zigic then found himself one-on-one with Valdes, but the Barca keeper stood firm and made the save.
It was a golden opportunity for Valencia and they were left to rue that miss as Maduro - playing as a makeshift central defender - brought down Messi and received a second yellow card a minute later.
Incredibly, Maduro became the seventh Valencia player to see red in seven straight matches, with David Silva, Alexis, Carlos Marchena, Miguel, David Navarro and Ever Banega all receiving their marching orders in the previous six games.
Unai Emery's side had managed to achieve some decent results despite those previous dismissals.
But there was only one winner here.
Former Arsenal forward Henry found Messi with an extraordinary cross-field pass after 81 minutes, which the Argentinian controlled with aplomb, charging into the area and curling a stunning left-footed curler past Cesar to make it two for him - and two for Barca.
And a minute later, Henry, with his back to goal, controlled the ball neatly and flicked a sublime pass onto the advancing Messi, who calmly took his time before sliding the ball underneath Cesar to round off a fantastic victory.
MESSI HAT-TRICK Gives BARCA Victory
