MADRID, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona went to bed on Saturday night with an 11-point lead over Atletico Madrid and a 12-point advantage over Real Madrid after Leo Messi once again inspired them to victory.
The Argentinean scored a hat-trick and set up Luis Suarez for Barca's fourth goal as the league leaders twice came back from behind against a spirited Sevilla, who were 23 minutes away from a win and 5 minutes away from a point.
Jesus Navas opened the scoring in a thrilling first half, before Messi equalized with a volley minutes later.
Gabriel Mercado restored Sevilla's lead before halftime after good work from Pablo Sarabia and it wasn't until the 67th minute that Messi again drew Barca level, this time with a carefully placed shot into the top corner.
Five minutes from time Messi did it again, reacting quickly to chip Carles Alena's defected shot over the advancing keeper and in injury time he lobbed the ball over the top for Suarez to seal the result.
Sevilla's defeat means that Getafe move into the fourth place after they won the midday kick off in the Madrid derby 2-1 at home to Rayo Vallecano.
Getafe striker Jorge Molina and Jaime Mata were both on target again, with Mata opening the scoring in the 28th minute and Molina netting the winner with just over 20 minutes remaining after Raul de Tomas had scored a 58th minute equalizer for Rayo, who have lost their last four games.
Raul Garcia scored the fastest ever goal in the San Mames Stadium to give Athletic Club Bilbao a 1-0 win at home to Eibar in the Basque derby.
Athletic were able to deactivate Eibar in attack and the win leaves them just four points from the top-six and a possible place in Europe.
Alaves and Celta drew a dull game 0-0, a result which leaves Alaves in the sixth place and Celta in danger of falling into the bottom three if Villarreal win away to Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Friday night saw Espanyol draw 1-1 at home to Huesca in a result which keeps Huesca in with a chance of avoiding relegation.
Chinese striker Wu Lei, the all-time top scorer in Chinese Super League history with 102 goals, played all 90 minutes for Espanyol, but the home side's only goal was an Esteban Granero free kick after 20 minutes. Huesca equalized thanks to captain Xabi Etxeita two minutes into the second half.
