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Lionel Messi in numbers: How the Barca man rewrote the record books with his Rayo Vallecano hat-trick

Lionel Messi of Barcelona celebrates scoring the opening goal from a penalty kick during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 match against Man City

It was another record-breaking day for Lionel Messi as the Barcelona maestro scored a hat-trick in Sunday’s 6-1 win over Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou.

A twice-taken penalty, a tap-in after following in a Luis Suarez shot and a piece of real quality in dancing past two men saw Messi make history with yet another Barca treble.

Here we take you through just some of the numbers that the Argentine genius has now racked up following his three goals at the weekend…

Hat-tricks

Messi’s hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano was his fifth of the season so far.

His tally of 24 La Liga hat-tricks is a new record, moving clear of Cristiano Ronaldo on 23.

The total of 32 hat-tricks in all competitions is also a record for a Spanish club, eclipsing the 31 hat-tricks by former Athletic Bilbao striker Telmo Zarra.

Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring against Rayo Vallecano
Image: Messi celebrates after scoring one of his three goals against Rayo Vallecano

Season so far

The Argentina international has now scored at least 40 goals in six successive seasons.

He has moved level with Real Madrid forward Ronaldo on 30 La Liga goals for the season.

Messi also tops the La Liga assist charts with 14 – four clear of the next best (Ronaldo).

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Lionel Messi v Cristiano Ronaldo: Their 2014 hat-tricks

Calendar year

Messi’s last 15 La Liga goals have come in just 10 games since the turn of the year.

He has scored or assisted 22 goals in 2015 – more than any other La Liga team has scored.

Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona celebrates with his teammate Luis Suarez of FC Barcelona after scoring his team's fourth goal du
Image: Luis Suarez combined well with Messi in the 6-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano

All-time stats

Messi has scored 219 La Liga goals in 194 games in the last six seasons (Ronaldo has 207 in 188).

In total he has scored 395 goals in all competitions for Barcelona.

Lionel Messi is 27 years old.

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