Messi becomes Barcelona's all-time leading scorer

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to become Barcelona's all-time record goalscorer as they cut the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid to four points ahead of their meeting next weekend with a 7-0 thrashing of Osasuna.

After a slow start, the hosts were sparked into life by Messi's opening goal as he flicked home at the near post from Alexis Sanchez's cross.

Sanchez was next on the scoresheet as he finished off a similar move involving Andres Iniesta and Jordi Alba before Iniesta's wonderful strike from 25 yards made it 3-0.

Messi then broke another record by registering his 370th Barca goal to overtake Paulinho Alcantara as the club's record marksman before rounding off his hat-trick in between further strikes from Cristian Tello and Pedro Rodriguez.

"The victory is very important because we remain four points behind Madrid," Sanchez told Canal Plus.

"We played a great game and I am happy with my performance as I scored and provided an assist."

Next up for Barcelona is a trip to the Santiago Bernabeu next Sunday and Sanchez is sure they can get themselves back into the title race by ending Madrid's five-month unbeaten run in all competitions.