Just when Barcelona was at its worst, Lionel Messi gave one of his best performances of the season.
Messi scored his 50th hat trick for club and country on Saturday in a 4-2 victory at Sevilla, helping Barcelona to take a big step toward retaining the Spanish league title.
Sevilla went ahead twice, but Messi hit back each time before he netted a third goal with five minutes remaining.
After taking his league-leading tally to 25 goals, Messi added an assist for Luis Suarez to round off the win before the whistle.
It was Messi's 44th hat trick for Barcelona, to go with another six for Argentina, according to the club.
"This doesn't mean the league is ours yet. There is a long way to go, but it was very important to win here to protect the advantage we have over our rivals," Messi said.
"The game turned against us but we knew how to pull it out."
"When everything flows, things go well for us, as we saw today. Today we were back to playing like we know how. We played a great match."
"There was a lot at stake in this match. We weren't playing well and then he appeared. That is Messi."