Barcelona player ratings v Getafe: Lionel Messi is brilliant once again

Argentine great completes 25 La Liga goals for 12th season in a row

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Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona defeated Getafe 5-2 on Thursday to stay in the hunt for the La Liga title.

Messi gave Barca an early lead but Getafe pulled level with an own goal by Clement Lenglet.

The visitors then conceded a calamitous own goal when Sofian Chakla's backpass deceived keeper David Soria.

Messi extended Barca's lead before halftime to move on to 25 La Liga goals for the 12th season in a row.

But the Catalans slowed down in the second half as Enes Unal converted a penalty in the 69th minute following a VAR review for a foul by Ronald Araujo.

Getafe had a couple of half-chances to level but Uruguayan defender Araujo made amends for his foul on Unal by heading in Messi's corner in the 87th minute to effectively kill the game.

Barca earned a penalty in added time but Messi surrendered the chance to score a hat-trick and handed the ball to Antoine Griezmann who slammed in the spot-kick.

The win took Barca back up to third place on 68 points, five behind leaders Atletico Madrid but with a game in hand.

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