<p class="title">Just when Barcelona was at its worst, Lionel Messi gave one of his best performances of the season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sevilla went ahead twice, but Messi hit back each time before he netted a third goal with five minutes remaining.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After taking his league-leading tally to 25 goals, Messi added an assist for Luis Suarez to round off the win before the whistle.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was Messi's 44th hat trick for Barcelona, to go with another six for Argentina, according to the club.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The game turned against us but we knew how to pull it out."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Barcelona had drawn four of its previous five matches and its only goal in three games had been a penalty by Messi. A setback in Seville would have given Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid the chance to spark up the title race when they play on Sunday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Instead, Messi almost singlehandedly ensured Barcelona opened a 10-point gap over Atletico and a 12-point advantage over Madrid.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Barcelona also rediscovered its scoring form in time for a critical week of back-to-back clashes with Madrid.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fierce rivals meet in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou, before clashing again in the league next weekend.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We went through a patch when we weren't playing our best and that makes everything more difficult. We were having trouble converting our chances," Messi said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"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."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sevilla outplayed Barcelona through much of the first half and was twice ahead thanks to Jesus Navas and Gabriel Mercado.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Messi responded both times with strikes that produced the same result: goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik helplessly pawing thin air as the ball sailed over his head.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Messi cancelled out Navas' 22nd-minute opener four minutes later with an exquisite volley, as the Argentine blasted Ivan Rakitic's cross into the top corner of the net.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Messi equalised a second time in the 67th after Rakitic recovered the ball, laid off for Ousmane Dembele, who found Barcelona's all-time top scorer alone on the edge of the area and he curled the ball into the corner.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Messi finally put Barcelona in charge when he nonchalantly chipped the ball over Vaclik.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Not only did Messi score three great goals, it was how he scored them," said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"There was a lot at stake in this match. We weren't playing well and then he appeared. That is Messi."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sevilla fell into fifth place, with Getafe moving up into the Champions League spots after beating Rayo Vallecano 2-1.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Defender Samuel Umtiti played his first match for Barcelona after being sidelined since late November with a left knee problem that has plagued him since helping France win the 2018 World Cup.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Umtiti, who played the full 90 minutes, has only made nine appearances for Barcelona this campaign.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In other results, sixth-place Alaves drew 0-0 with relegation-threatened Celta Vigo, while Athletic Bilbao won 1-0 against Eibar. Raul Garcia scored a first-minute goal for Athletic, which is up to eighth.</p>
<p class="title">Just when Barcelona was at its worst, Lionel Messi gave one of his best performances of the season.</p>.<p class="bodytext">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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sevilla went ahead twice, but Messi hit back each time before he netted a third goal with five minutes remaining.</p>.<p class="bodytext">After taking his league-leading tally to 25 goals, Messi added an assist for Luis Suarez to round off the win before the whistle.</p>.<p class="bodytext">It was Messi's 44th hat trick for Barcelona, to go with another six for Argentina, according to the club.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"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.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The game turned against us but we knew how to pull it out."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Barcelona had drawn four of its previous five matches and its only goal in three games had been a penalty by Messi. A setback in Seville would have given Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid the chance to spark up the title race when they play on Sunday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Instead, Messi almost singlehandedly ensured Barcelona opened a 10-point gap over Atletico and a 12-point advantage over Madrid.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Barcelona also rediscovered its scoring form in time for a critical week of back-to-back clashes with Madrid.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The fierce rivals meet in the second leg of their Copa del Rey semifinal on Wednesday after a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou, before clashing again in the league next weekend.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"We went through a patch when we weren't playing our best and that makes everything more difficult. We were having trouble converting our chances," Messi said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"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."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sevilla outplayed Barcelona through much of the first half and was twice ahead thanks to Jesus Navas and Gabriel Mercado.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Messi responded both times with strikes that produced the same result: goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik helplessly pawing thin air as the ball sailed over his head.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Messi cancelled out Navas' 22nd-minute opener four minutes later with an exquisite volley, as the Argentine blasted Ivan Rakitic's cross into the top corner of the net.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Messi equalised a second time in the 67th after Rakitic recovered the ball, laid off for Ousmane Dembele, who found Barcelona's all-time top scorer alone on the edge of the area and he curled the ball into the corner.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Messi finally put Barcelona in charge when he nonchalantly chipped the ball over Vaclik.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Not only did Messi score three great goals, it was how he scored them," said Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"There was a lot at stake in this match. We weren't playing well and then he appeared. That is Messi."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Sevilla fell into fifth place, with Getafe moving up into the Champions League spots after beating Rayo Vallecano 2-1.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Defender Samuel Umtiti played his first match for Barcelona after being sidelined since late November with a left knee problem that has plagued him since helping France win the 2018 World Cup.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Umtiti, who played the full 90 minutes, has only made nine appearances for Barcelona this campaign.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In other results, sixth-place Alaves drew 0-0 with relegation-threatened Celta Vigo, while Athletic Bilbao won 1-0 against Eibar. Raul Garcia scored a first-minute goal for Athletic, which is up to eighth.</p>