Lionel Messi scored three goals as Barcelona beat Tenerife 0-5 to return to the top of La Liga.

Tenerife started the stronger team and could have easily scored on multiple occasions, but a combination of poor finishing and fine goalkeeping denied the hosts. It was Messi who opened the scoring on 35 minutes, an excellent run from Bojan down the left saw him pull the ball back for Leo to bend the finish home first time into the bottom corner. The lead was doubled moments later when Messi saw his free kick headed in by captain Carles Puyol. If that wasn’t game over, it was shortly later when Bojan played in Messi once more for a simple finish to make the score 3-0 at half time.

The second half was near total domination for Barcelona, with Messi completing his hat trick on 75 minutes with a sublime curling lobbed finish from outside of the area which drew gasps and applause from both the home and away support. The rout was completed in the form of an own goal by the hosts.

See Messi speak to Adidas about his achievements in 2009:

David Beckham has warned that Argentina’s Lionel Messi could take the World Cup by storm this summer but insists England are “lucky” to have an exceptional group of players themselves.

The England midfielder rates Barcelona forward Messi as “the closest player” to England’s 1986 nemesis Diego Maradona but believes Fabio Capello can count on a number of key men when England mount their challenge.

Beckham told www.fifa.com: “Messi is one of the best players I’ve played against and also one of the finest players I’ve ever seen. For a little player, he’s so talented. He’s the closest player to Maradona that you can get, and he even plays in a similar passionate way too. He’s successful and a really good person as well. I’m sure he’ll go on to be even more successful in the future.”

Asked who was England’s answer to Messi, the 34-year-old said: “I think we’ve got many key players in our team: Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Rio Ferdinand – we’ve got players all the way through our team who are exceptional. We’re lucky to have such a talented group of players.

With Messi given extended holiday leave, Barcelona drew 1-1 with the Yellow Submarine on Saturday. In his absence, here are three videos related to the Argentine:

It has been quite a year for the Argentine. Leo has bagged the domestic treble of La Liga, Copa Del Rey and UEFA Champions League, and also followed up with European and Spanish Supercup wins along with the Club World Cup.

Here are some of the finest moments of the calender year courtesy of elMagicoMessi10: