Barcelona comfortably saw off bottom of the table Huesca to crank up the pressure on Atletico Madrid in a tense La Liga title race.

It was a perfect start for Lionel Messi, who was making his record-equalling 767th Barcelona appearance. The Argentine marked the occasion with a beautiful opener, touching the ball past the defender before curling a strike in off the crossbar.

Both sides threatened to find the next goal. Pablo Maffeo saw his low strike saved by Marc-Andre ter Stegen following a mazy solo run, while Jordi Alba struck the crossbar from Messi’s through ball.

But it wasn’t long before the hosts doubled their lead in equally brilliant fashion. This time it was Antoine Griezmann, who hammered a 25-yard shot into the top corner. It was the Frenchman’s first goal in ten games in all competitions.

Ronald Koeman’s men came within an inch of making it three shortly before half time. Alba swung in an inch-perfect cross for Frenkie de Jong, but he could only lift the ball onto the crossbar.

In the dying seconds of the first half, the visitors were handed an opportunity to bring themselves back into the game when ter Stegen was adjudged to have fouled Rafa Mir. The forward stepped up and halved the deficit from the penalty spot.

But Huesca’s hopes of a comeback were quickly put to bed in the second half via an unlikely source. Messi’s cross found the head of young defender Oscar Mingueza, who planted his header into the bottom corner.

Mir had a glorious chance to pull another back when Dani Escriche nodded the ball across goal. However, the Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee somehow touched it over the bar from point-blank range.

That was the last of the action until the final moments when Messi capped the night with another goal. This time, he picked up a pass from substitute Francisco Trincao and found the bottom corner from distance via a deflection.

The victory takes Barcelona to within four points of leaders Atletico Madrid, having been ten points behind Diego Simeone’s men at the start of February while playing a game extra.

In contrast, Huesca remain at the bottom of the table after a second successive defeat. Pacheta’s men are four points from safety with 11 games remaining.

Man of the Match – Lionel Messi

☝️ #Messi767 ☝️