Messi hits two as Barça march on

Messi hits two as Barça march on

Lionel Messi scored twice as FC Barcelona continued their flawless start to their title defence by beating Club Atlético de Madrid 5-2 on a night when RCD Mallorca climbed to second with a 4-0 home victory over CD Tenerife.
Messi double

Barcelona were unable to find a way past FC Internazionale Milano in midweek but Zlatan Ibrahimović took just two minutes to break the deadlock against Atlético. Fresh from signing his new contract, Messi added a second in the 16th minute and Daniel Alves (31) and Seydou Keita (41) put the result beyond doubt before half-time. Usual suspects Sergio Agüero and Diego Forlán each registered for the Madrid side but Messi restored a three-goal advantage in added time.
Double dismissal

Mallorca sit between the champions and Real Madrid CF after a similarly routine victory against the nine men of Tenerife courtesy of goals from Mario Suárez, Aritz Aduriz, Julio Alvarez Mosquera and Pierre Webó's penalty. Sevilla FC followed up their midweek UEFA Champions League win against FC Unirea Urziceni by beating CA Osasuna 2-0 with goals from Álvaro Negredo (37) and Frédéric Kanouté (71) to rise to fifth. Sergio Fernández’s late dismissal quashed any hopes of an Osasuna comeback.
First points

Elsewhere, RCD Espanyol lifted themselves off the bottom of the nascent standings with a 3-2 win at RC Deportivo La Coruña, recording their first points of the campaign, while Nasief Morris's goal ten minutes from time gave Real Racing Club Santander a 2-1 win at Málaga CF which moves them up into seventh.
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