Lionel Messi Breaks Barcelona, La Liga Hat-Trick Records

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi added another record to his already extraordinary resume with his 24th career La Liga hat-trick on Sunday. 

OptaJose passed along word of the new league mark, which means Messi surpassed Cristiano Ronaldo with his achievement.

The club noted it also gave him 32 hat-tricks across all competitions, which allowed him to pass Athletic Bilbao legend Telmo Zarra:

Here's the goal that made it happen, courtesy of The SPORT Bible:

Vintage Messi. He takes the pass amid heavy traffic in the box, and a few touches later, the ball is in the back of the net. His ability to weave between defenders is a sight to behold and one of the main reasons he seems to break another record with each passing week.

His third goal gave Barcelona a 5-0 lead as they cruised to a 6-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano and slid past Real Madrid in the La Liga table. More performances like today's will be necessary from Messi if they want to hold on for the league title.