La Liga Table 2018 Week 16: Standings and Final Scores After Sunday

Lionel Messi hit a hat-trick on Sunday to ensure Barcelona remain three points clear at the top of La Liga after a 5-0 win over Levante.

Sevilla moved back into second place after a comfortable 2-0 win over Girona thanks to goals from Ever Banega and Pablo Sarabia.

Real Betis beat Espanyol 3-1 to move into fifth place in the table. Goals from Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Tello and an Oscar Duarte own goal gave the visitors all three points.

Sunday's other match saw Samuele Longo score a stoppage-time equaliser to rescue a point for bottom-of-the-table Huesca against Villarreal.

Sunday's Scores

Sevilla 2-0 Girona

Espanyol 1-3 Real Betis

Huesca 2-2 Villarreal

Levante 0-5 Barcelona

La Liga Standings (matches played, goal difference and points)

1. Barcelona: 16, +27, 34

2. Sevilla: 16, +13, 31

3. Atletico Madrid: 16, +12, 31

4. Real Madrid: 16, +5, 29

5. Real Betis: 16, +1, 25

6. Getafe: 16, +5, 24

7. Alaves: 15, +1, 24

8. Levante: 16, -3, 22

9. Celta Vigo: 16, +4, 21

10. Girona: 16, -2, 21

11. Espanyol: 16, -5, 21

12. Real Valladolid: 16, -3, 20

13. Eibar: 16, -4, 20

14. Valencia: 16, 0, 19

15. Real Sociedad: 16, -1, 19

16. Leganes: 16, -4, 18

17. Villarreal: 16, -4, 15

18. Athletic Bilbao: 15, -8, 14

19. Rayo Vallecano: 16, -16, 10

20. Huesca: 16, -18, 8

Sunday Recap

Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde sent his team out in an unfamiliar formation at Levante:

The visitors took their time to get going and were fortunate not to fall behind in the first half. Emmanuel Boateng pounced on a loose ball in the penalty area, and his shot hit the underside of the crossbar.

Barcelona managed to conjure up a move of pure quality to break the deadlock on 35 minutes. Messi dribbled past four defenders on the edge of the box before reversing the ball back to Luis Suarez to cushion a volley past goalkeeper Oier Olazabal.

The Barcelona captain then doubled the visitors' lead eight minutes later. Sergio Busquets sent him running clear on goal, and he tucked the ball under Olazabal.

Messi put the game out of Levante's reach in the opening minutes of the second half. Jordi Alba raced forwards down the left and crossed for the Argentinian to sweep home.

Barcelona added a fourth goal on the hour mark in some style. Suarez and Arturo Vidal combined neatly, allowing the Chilean to cut the ball back to Messi to tap home.

Opta highlighted his goalscoring record:

The evening got even worse for the hosts when Levante were reduced to 10 men on 76 minutes. Erick Cabaco was shown a red card for a late challenge on Ousmane Dembele.

Football journalist Rik Sharma shared his view of the foul:

Gerard Pique then completed the scoring late on from a Messi pass after starting the move on the edge of his own penalty area.

It's a big win for Barcelona on the ground where they tasted their only La Liga defeat last season.

Sevilla remain in title contention after moving back into second place in the table with victory over Girona in an entertaining game.

The visitors started strongly and could have taken the lead through Cristhian Stuani. The striker latched on to a cross from the right, but goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik saved his effort.

The deadlock was eventually broke on 55 minutes from the penalty spot. Juanpe brought down Andre Silva, and Banega sent Vaclik the wrong way from the spot.

Sevilla doubled their lead nine minutes later from a flowing move. The ball was swept out wide to Wissam Ben Yedder, who crossed for Sarabia to sweep home.

Football journalist David Cartlidge noted how impressive Sarabia has been this season:

Girona came close to grabbing a goal back late on, but Vaclik tipped Borja Garcia's whipped shot to safety.

It was a comfortable win for Sevilla which keeps them in the title race, while Girona have now gone three games without a victory in La Liga.