MADRID: Lionel Messi came off the bench to earn Barcelona a 2-1 victory at Atletico Madrid on Saturday while Cristiano Ronaldo hit five goals in a 6-0 romp at Espanyol to become Real Madrid’s record La Liga scorer.

Champions Barca, who started with talisman Messi as a substitute following the birth of his second son on Friday, fell behind after a tight first half at the Vicente Calderon when Fernando Torres sped clear to score in the 51st minute.

Neymar levelled four minutes later when he curled a sumptuous free kick into the top corner before Messi nonchalantly flicked home the winner 11 minutes from time from Luis Suarez’s pass.

“When we have the best player with us, we all play better,” Neymar said.

The victory preserved Barca’s perfect start to the season and they lead on a maximum nine points from three matches, three ahead of 2013-14 champions Atletico who are fifth.

Real have seven points in second place after Ronaldo, who like great rival Messi had drawn a blank in the opening two games, ended his early-season drought in emphatic style.

The Portugal captain recorded his second career five-goal game, taking his tally in Spain’s top flight to 230 goals in 203 matches and eclipsing Raul Gonzalez’s mark of 228 goals in 550 games.

“Someone who scores so many goals has their place in history forever like Raul or [Alfredo] Di Stefano,” said Real boss Rafael Benitez.

“I think we are speaking of three historic players and I hope Cristiano continues adding to his tally for his good and the good of the team.”

The 30-year-old FIFA Ballon d’Or winner exploded with a blistering hat trick by the 20th minute, scoring from passes by Luka Modric and Gareth Bale in between a penalty kick earned by the Welshman.

Ronaldo passed for Karim Benzema to make it 4-0 against Espanyol’s demoralised defence before halftime, and he scored twice more to record his 32nd game with three or more goals for Real.

Elsewhere, Spain forward Paco Alcacer scored in added time to give Valencia an unconvincing 1-0 triumph at promoted Sporting Gijon, a first win of the campaign lifting them to sixth place on five points.

Real Betis edged Real Sociedad thanks to Ruben Castro’s goal before halftime for the promoted side’s first win.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2015

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