Barcelona: Bravo; Montoya, Marc Bartra, Mascherano, Adriano; Rakitic (Sergi Roberto 62’), Busquets, Xavi; Pedro, Messi, Neymar (Luis Suárez 67‘). 4-3-3.
Levante: Diego Mariño; Iván López (Jason 71’), David Navarro, Iván Ramis, Toño; Xumetra, Diop (José Mari 78‘), Simao, Morales; Kalu Uche (Víctor Casadesús 62‘), Barral. 4-4-2.
Goals:
1-0. 16. Neymar. Attempted shot from Messi cross which looped over keeper.
2-0. 38. Messi. Picked up Marc Bartra pass and beat Mariño with angled shot.
3-0. 59. Messi. Turned ball into net after Pedro played Busquets pass across.
4-0. 65. Messi (penalty). After Iván López pushed over Neymar inside the area.
5-0. 73. Luis Suárez. Acrobatic scissors kick past keeper from Adriano’s cross.
Yellow cards: Iván Ramis 64’, Barral 68’, Busquets 77’.
Barcelona stay a point behind leaders Real Madrid after a 5-0 victory over Levante on Sunday evening, an eleventh win in a row for Luis Enrique’s side. With just over a quarter of an hour gone Messi crossed in for Neymar to score the first, his attempted shot looping up in the air and dropping over the head of the surprised Diego Mariño. Barral had an effort deflected for a corner at the other end, but soon afterwards Marc Bartra won the ball in midfield and slipped a pass through for Messi to score the second. Messi missed a couple of chances before the break, but a quarter of an hour into the second half he got his second of the evening after Pedro laid across Busquet’s lofted pass, and five minutes later he completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Iván López pushed over Neymar in the area. Luis Suárez had started the game on the bench, but he came on to score the goal of the match, an acrobatic scissors kick from Adriano’s cross, and Messi could have added another had Mariño not tipped his shot over the bar near the end.