Gerard Pique Talks Lionel Messi, Barcelona's Treble Chances After Real Betis Win

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique described team-mate Lionel Messi as a "special footballer" after his hat-trick in the Blaugrana's 4-1 win over Real Betis on Sunday.

The Spaniard paid tribute to his captain after he fired Barca to their fifth consecutive win in La Liga with one of the performances of the season.

"He's a special footballer," he said, per Marca. "There have been others throughout history, but Leo has been doing this for 14 years. He's unique in that there's nobody like him in history."

Messi picked out the top corner with a lovely free-kick after 18 minutes, and he fired home a second on the stroke of half-time when he latched on to Luis Suarez's audacious backheel.

Suarez got on the scoresheet himself with a solo run from his own half before Loren Moron pulled one back with a fine finish.

Messi would have the final say, though, casually dinking the ball over Betis goalkeeper Pau Lopez from just inside the area.

The Argentinian received a standing ovation from Betis' supporters at the Benito Villamarin Stadium, and he set Twitter alight, too:

Even by his own lofty standards, Messi has been in remarkable form:

The win sent Barca 10 points clear in La Liga after Atletico Madrid slipped to a 2-0 defeat against Athletic Bilbao on Saturday.

Pique isn't counting his chickens just yet, though: "We've taken three very important points. The gap between us and the others is very important, but there is still a lot of football to play. We are feeling good, but we must continue to approach things match by match."

Nor is he entertaining talk of winning the treble at this moment in time: "It's good that people are excited, but we have to keep our feet on the ground. La Liga Santander is moving closer. However, the Champions League has been difficult for us at the quarter-final stage."

It would take an almighty collapse over the final 10 matches for Barcelona not to win La Liga from this position, but they do still have to play Atletico.

Barca have a good chance of winning a fifth consecutive Copa del Rey, in which they'll contest May's final with Valencia.

They've not made it past the quarter-final of the UEFA Champions League since winning the trophy in 2015, though, and a difficult draw for that round this season saw them receive Manchester United.

Although Barcelona should be the favourites to progress, it's unlikely to be an easy tie for them, so Pique is adopting the right approach.

If Barca are to have any chances of winning the treble, they can ill afford any complacency.