There’s no football at the moment which gives us the perfect opportunity to look back to this day last year when Lionel Messi scored a brilliant hat-trick in a 4-1 win over Real Betis at the Benito Villamarin.
It’s a game that will live long in the memory due to Messi’s utter brilliance and the way the home fans stood up and gave him a standing ovation when his third goal flew past goalkeeper Pau Lopez.
Messi’s first goal came after 18 minutes when he put a free-kick into the top corner, and his second arrived in first-half stoppage time after a brilliant backheel from Luis Suarez.