Lionel Messi scored two goals for the seventh consecutive match he has started to help Barcelona strike a potentially decisive blow in the La Liga title race.

The Catalan giants romped to a 4-1 victory at home to second-placed Atletico Madrid to move nine points clear at the top.

Defending champions Real Madrid are 13 points behind after they were surprisingly held to a 2-2 draw at home by lowly Espanyol.

Tito Vilanova's unbeaten leaders fought back after Radamel Falcao gave Atletico a deserved lead with the cutest of finishes.

It was the least the visitors deserved for an impressive start in which they caused problems on the break, an approach which yielded the opener, the Colombian's 17th of the season.

Five minutes later, Barca were back in the game thanks to a thunderous shot from Adriano, who cut in from the right flank and fired in off the underside of the crossbar.

Atletico were struggling to break out of the area before halftime, and when they failed to clear a corner, Busquets calmly stroked home the second.

After the break, Messi slotted a third into the corner and then pounced on an error at the end for his 25th in La Liga and 90th for club and country in 2012.

From the Daily Mail