Argentine Lionel Messi made it a century of league goals for Barcelona with a hat-trick as the champions crushed Almeria 8-0 last night in the perfect warm-up for their first Clasico showdown with title rivals Real Madrid at Camp Nou in nine days time.

Barca were 5-0 up at half-time as they maintained their perfect away record with a fifth win. The 23-year-old Messi opened the scoring on 16 minutes and netted again on 36 minutes to make it 100 league goals in a Barcelona shirt in just 154 games before completing his hat-trick with a tap-in on 66 minutes.

Messi moves to the top of the goalscoring charts with 13 league goals for the season to send a warning to Real Madrid ahead of the Camp Nou clash on November 29.

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