Lionel Messi scores record 400th goal in La Liga

Coach Ernesto Valverde hails Argentine striker after he scores his 400th La Liga goal to send Barcelona 5 points clear atop points table

Lionel Messi scored his 400th La Liga goal on Sunday, a total his coach Ernesto Valverde called "monstrous", as Barcelona terrorised Eibar to reclaim their five-point cushion at the top of the table.

Messi drove the ball into the bottom corner after being teed up by Luis Suarez, who added two goals to his own tally either side of the Argentine marking another historic record at the Camp Nou. "It's monstrous," said Valverde, after the 3-0 victory. "It's easy to say but you have to score them one after the other, it's a long-term job.

Ernesto Valverde

'From another planet'
"His numbers are stratospheric, incredible. He is from another galaxy." Victory saw Valverde's side restore their advantage over Atletico Madrid, who had briefly cut the gap to two points after beating Levante earlier in the day. "There is a lot of time left," Valverde said. "It is a good cushion but nothing is done yet." Real Madrid won too, beating Real Betis, to ensure Spain's big three all prevailed in the same round for only the fourth time this season. Real remain 10 points adrift of Barcelona.

Ahead of Ronaldo
Messi, meanwhile, extends his own hefty lead as the division's all-time top scorer, which currently stands at 89 goals, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo, now at Juventus in Italy, owns a better goals-to-game ratio, with his 311 strikes coming in 292 matches.

Messi's quadruple century arrived in his 435th. In fact, it was one of Messi's quieter nights in terms of performance and in another team it might have been Suarez or Philippe Coutinho picking up the plaudits.

Suarez assisted Messi, applied a classy finish and was on the end of a scintillating team move for Barca's first. Coutinho was the provider for that one and delivered a sparkling display to appease those doubting his future at the club. He has endured a spell out of Valverde's preferred starting line-up but he converted a penalty against Levante in the Copa del Rey, and was arguably man of the match here.

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