Magical Messi fires Barcelona clear as Real crash

A brace from Lionel Messi helped Barcelona clinch a 3-0 victory over Sevilla and open a six-point lead at the top of the Spanish league as Real Madrid crashed 3-1 at city rivals Getafe.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had told his players beforehand to show commitment and it was needed against a Sevilla side who battled for every ball.

The game was played at a frantic pace with few clear chances but it was Barcelona who made the most of theirs with Messi once again the outstanding player.

In the opening minutes Luis Fabiano shot over from inside the box for Sevilla but after 20 minutes it was Samuel Eto'o who opened the scoring latching onto a loose ball in the area and firing home.

Fabiano then went close again and Frederic Kanoute felt unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after tumbling in the box following a challenge from Gerard Pique, but the clearest chance came later for Kanoute who could only hit the crossbar after beating the offside trap.

In the second half, both sides were reduced to shots from distance before Messi took centre stage.

The Argentine ran onto a ball from midfield and volleyed into the corner from 25 yards to extend Barca's lead after 78 minutes and then he completed his brace in injury time, rounding the keeper before slotting home.

Sevilla's night was made worse by the controversial dismissal of Fabiano for elbowing Sergio Busquets.

"I'm happy as this was a step forward for us and these are important points against a very strong rival," said Guardiola.

"In the first half we were sloppy and took a lot of risks but after the break we were a lot better and more organised."

Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez said: "In the second half they showed what they are capable of doing.

"In the first half Sevilla played well and it was unfair that Barcelona went into the interval with a lead but afterwards they were lethal.

"The quality of Daniel (Alves), Messi and Xavi (Hernandez) caused us a lot of damage and to say otherwise would be lying."

Earlier, a convincing 3-1 victory by Getafe piled the pressure on Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster whose side have now lost two out their last three league games.

"It was not a painful defeat because from the start of the game it was clear that it would have been very difficult to win," said Schuster.

"A lot of things happened in the match and at no time did we have the feeling that we could win. Getafe were superior and they produced a spectacular game."

Schuster was forced into fielding a makeshift team with seven players unavailable and they got off to the worst possible start conceding a goal after just three minutes with Juan Angel Albin converting a Jaime Gavilan cross.

Getafe, brimming with confidence following their draw against Barcelona a week ago, continued to take the game to Real whose outlook further deteriorated with Wesley Sneijder and Miguel Torres both limping off before half-time.

Fernando Gago did graze the crossbar but Real were unable to take a hold of the game, and only a few minutes after the interval Albin knocked in his second, slipping the ball past Iker Casillas.

Real were given hope when Javier Saviola finished well inside the area, after Juan Guti had won back possession, but rather than building on the goal, Madrid soon lost impetus and it was Getafe who looked more likely to score again.

With nine minutes to go Ikechukwu Uche secured the win for Getafe with a clinical finish after the hard work had been done by his strike partner Albin.

On Sunday, Villarreal and Valencia both will be looking for wins to boost their championship chances after dropping points in recent weeks.

Villarreal travel to bottom-placed Recreativo Huelva looking to end a four-match run in all competitions without a win.

Valencia have lost their last two home matches against Racing Santander and Sporting Gijon, and they now face a Real Betis team which has won their last three games away from home.