Lionel Messi scored his 50th hat-trick as Barcelona came from behind twice to beat Sevilla.
Questions were asked ahead of kick-off as to whether Barca’s Argentine talisman should start this contest, with two Clasico’s on the horizon.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has not looked quite right since suffering the problem in the 2-2 draw at home to Valencia at the beginning of February, struggling to regain his rhythm in his three-and-bit appearances since.
The 31-year-old came off the bench to play the last 27 minutes against Real Madrid in the teams' Copa del Rey semi-final first leg before featuring for the whole 90 minutes against Athletic Club and Valladolid in La Liga, and again away to Lyon in the Champions League on Tuesday.
But start he did, so star he would.
Twice Barca would trail in Seville. Twice Messi would drag them level.
Former Man City winger Jesus Navas put the hosts ahead on 22 minutes before Messi scored his first of the match, four minutes later. Sevilla would regain their lead just before the interval through Gabriel Mercado before Messi scored his second.
The 31-year-old would complete his hat-trick with just over five minutes remaining on the clock, before Luis Suarez secured all three points with Barca’s fourth in stoppage time.
Team line-ups, match action and reaction
Sevilla XI: Vaclik, Mercardo, Kjaer, Gomez, Navas, Banega, Rog, Sarabia, Wober, Ben Yedder, Promes
Substitutes: Amadou, Mesa, Silva, Soriano, El Haddadi, Vazquez, Arana
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen, Semedo, Pique, Umtiti, Alba, Vidal, Busquets, Rakitic, Messi, Suarez, Coutinho
Substitutes: Dembele, Malcom, Lenglet, Murillo, Roberto, Alena, Pena
Can't see the Sevilla 2 Barcelona 4 blog? Click here to access our desktop page.
