Three more for Messi as Barca win 5-4 thriller

Messi’s latest masterclass overshadowedReal Madrid’s drab 2-0 triumph at home to promotedCelta Vigo. Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo (penalty) scored the goals that lifted Jose Mourinho’s team to fourth place, eight points behind arch rivals Barca.

World Player of the Year Messi, who is expecting the imminent birth of his first child, has notched 71 goals for club and country in 2012. That leaves him only four short of the record set by Brazilian great Pele in 1959.

“He [Messi] is off to the hospital now for a happy occasion as his son is on the way,” Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta told Spanish television.

Barca looked to be cruising to a seventh win of the campaign when they raced into a three-goal lead after 18 minutes at Depor’s Riazor stadium.

Jordi Alba sped on to a Cesc Fabregas pass to score in the third minute, Cristian Tello added a second and then Messi smashed in his first of the night after Fabregas’s clever backheel.

“We could have killed off the game in the first half but Deportivo are strong when they are playing at home and their fans get behind them,” said Barca playmaker Andres Iniesta.

“We are going away with the feeling of having got through a tough match and we will learn from that.”

The home team struggled to break through Celta’s well-drilled defence and needed a 67th-minute Ronaldo penalty, awarded fo