BARCELONA: That’s 400 and counting.

Lionel Messi took his all-time La Liga scoring record to 400 goals on Sunday, a total his coach Ernesto Valverde called “monstrous”, as Barcelona terrorised Eibar 3-0 to reclaim their five-point cushion at the top of the table.

Messi scored Barca’s second goal shortly after halftime to reach a milestone in the competition after 435 league matches. Former Real Madrid rival Cristiano Ronaldo is second all-time in La Liga with 311 goals.

In all competitions, Barca say the 31-year-old Messi has scored an astonishing 575 goals in 658 appearances.

“It’s monstrous,” said Valverde. “It’s easy to say but you have to score them one after the other, it’s a long-term job. His numbers are stratospheric, incredible. He is from another galaxy.”

Barca’s all-time top scorer got the landmark goal in the 53rd minute after Luis Suarez passed to him inside Eibar’s area. The Argentine did the rest by opening an angle around a defender and driving in a low left-footed shot. It was also Messi’s league-leading 17th league goal and his 23rd goal overall this season.

“He should be proud,” said Suarez, who scored Barca’s other two goals. “Game after game he shows what a great player he is. I am happy for him and for the history that he is writing for this club.”

Barca stayed five points ahead of second-placed Atletico Madrid, who edged Levante 1-0 thanks to a penalty from Antoine Griezmann, as the league reached its midway point.

Real Madrid won too, beating Real Betis 2-1, 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.

Griezmann scored his team-leading ninth league goal of the season when he fired a spot kick over Levante goalkeeper Oier Olazabal in the 57th minute following a handball by defender Nikola Vukcevic.

Griezmann has now scored all of Atletico’s last six goals and his latest one proved the difference in a cagey contest at the Wanda Metropolitano.

“We all pull the cart in difficult moments,” Griezmann said. “I cannot do anything without my team-mates.”

The pressure has been on Real all season but they battled to a win over Betis for their first league victory of 2019.

Luka Modric sent a thunderous shot into the top corner but Betis were in the ascendancy after Sergio Canales poked in a second-half equaliser.

Marcelo had been dropped by Santiago Solari, Karim Benzema taken off with a dislocated finger and Isco remained on the bench, watching three youngsters sent on ahead of him. Dani Ceballos, who left Betis for Madrid two years ago, was one of them.

With a free-kick on the edge of the area and goalkeeper Pau Lopez leaving his left-hand corner open, Ceballos duly sent a dipping shot into the gap to snatch a dramatic win with two minutes remaining.

Sevilla lost 2-0 at Athletic Bilbao, ending their unbeaten run in nine rounds. Bilbao forward Inaki Williams scored both goals for the hosts to help lift them out of the relegation zone. Sevilla remained in third place, level on points with Real.

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2019