Barça crushes Mallorca 5-0; Messi records hat-trick

Barcelona vs. Mallorca

Camp Nou

October 29, 2011

Barcelona, Spain

After a 0-0 draw against Sevilla, a lackluster 1-0 win over Granada, and yet again the chorus of critics starting up their song, FC Barcelona came back with a vengeance to shut them up. Messi was the man of the hour (or 90 minutes, rather) when he redeemed himself and then some by scoring a hat trick in less than 30 minutes after a three game drought. More importantly, the team put up 5 goals on the scoreboard to prove, once again, that the blaugrana colors are still the best.

Barça forward Lionel Messi scored 3 goals against Mallorca on Saturday, ending a 3-game goal scoring drought for the Argentine. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Guardiola did take notice of some tired legs on his team after a grueling schedule of a game every three days. Thus, Valdés, Alves, Mascherano, Abidal, Adriano, Keita, Busquets, Thiago, Villa, Messi, and Cuenca received the start while players like Xavi, Fontas, and Maxwell were left off the squad list entirely.