Mitch Freeley

Lionel Messi provided a hat-trick of assists as Barcelona defeated Real Betis 3-2 on Sunday evening. It was an eventful game for Barcelona defender Clément Lenglet, who conceded a penalty,  headed home the winner and got sent off in the game. 

Real Betis won a penalty after VAR intervened with the contest just four minutes old. As Barca defender Clément Lenglet handled the ball in the box. Sergio Canales stepped up and calmly sent Ter Stagen the wrong way to hand the hosts an early lead. 

It only took five minutes for Barcelona to find parity. Leo Messi lobbed in an inch-perfect ball over the Betis defence and Frenkie de Jong showed sublime control to chest the ball and dispatch it past Joel Robles on the volley. 

Betis looked lively on the counter-attack and Nabil Fekir fired Betis back into the lead, a jinxing run by the French international, followed by a drilled shot flew into the bottom corner. 

Barcelona sprang back into life and made it 2-2 thanks to another assist from Messi. In stoppage time, the Barca captain clipped in a free-kick which bounced kindly into the path of Sergio Busquets who lashed the ball into the corner. It was the tenth assist of the season for the Argentinian. 

Barca ramped up the pressure in the second half and inevitably  Barca made it 3-2 with a third Messi assist.  With 71 minutes on the clock, Messi picked out Clément Lenglet who headed the ball into the top corner to cap a memorable fightback for Quique Setién on his return to Real Betis. 

Late in the second half  Fekir saw red 14 minutes from time, picking up quickfire bookings for a foul on Lenglet and dissent, while Barca's French defender also received his marching orders three minutes later after catching Joaquin. the victory leaves the Catalans three points behind league leaders Real Madrid.