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Barcelona had a huge win over Getafe on Thursday night in a thrilling game. Messi opened scoring in the 8th minute before Getafe equalized through Clement Lenglet's own goal. Messi made it 3-1 in the 33rd minute, then Getafe reduced Barcelona’s lead through a penalty converted by Enes Unai. Unfortunately for Getafe, goals by Ronald Araujo and Antoine Griezmann sealed Barcelona's victory. Araujo's goal was assisted by Lionel Messi.  Messi had the opportunity to secure yet another career hat-trick when Griezmann was fouled in the box and Barcelona was awarded a penalty. Messi, despite being Barcelona's designated penalty-kick taker gave Griezmann the ball, and he converted the goal, making it 5-2 in Barcelona's favor.  Messi's brace on Thursday means he and Cristiano Ronaldo are the only players from the 'top five' European leagues to have scored at least 25 goals in 12 different seasons this century.

Barcelona's most recent outings have been exciting, with quite some progress from their dull start to the season. Barcelona's 4-0 win over Granada extends Barcelona's unbeaten run to eight games. Messi is back on top of the Pichichi standings with 11 goals to his name. He's been in pretty good form lately with four goals and an assist in his last three games. Messi scored a brace despite being taken off in the second half. Messi put an end to his mini free-kick drought with his second goal. Griezmann was exceptional as well, providing an assist for Messi and scoring two himself. He opened scoring for Barcelona with a fine left-footed finish in the 12th minute. According to OptaJose, Griezmann has now been in three goals in the same game for Barcelona for the second time in all competitions (two goals and an assist against Real Betis in August 2019.

Messi displayed his sixth Ballon d'Or trophy at Camp Nou prior to the La Liga match between Barcelona and Mallorca. It was a beautiful night for the Catalans as they struck a comprehensive 5-2 win over Mallorca, with Messi netting a hat-trick, and Griezmann and Suarez scoring a goal each. Messi has now scored 53 career hat-tricks; 35 of them scored in La Liga. He now solely holds the record for the most hat-tricks in La Liga, after passing the 34 he and Cristiano Ronaldo had each scored. Barcelona goal keeper Ter Stergen provided the assist for Barcelona's first goal, netted by Antoine Griezmann in the seventh minute. Messi put Barcelona 2-0 ahead in the 17th minute, with the crowd chanting his name: "Messi! Messi! Messi!" Ante Budimir pulled one back for the visitors in the 35th minute, temporarily silencing Camp Nou. Then Messi scored another for Barcelona. Luis Suarez scored "the most beautiful goal" of his career, through a backheel tap, putti

For the first time, Barcelona's attack trio of Messi, Suarez and Griezmann marked their names on the scoresheet in the same game. Barcelona had a 3 - 0 victory over Eibar in Saturday's game. Antoine Griezmann was the first to score for Barcelona in the first half. He later on provided an assist for Messi's goal, which came second. What was even more striking was the third goal, which once more portrayed Messi as a selfless player. Messi was charging through on goal, and decided to lay the ball into the path of Suarez so he could score, instead of scoring himself given the clear opportunity he had.  This is not the first time Messi has been unselfish in his career. He usually allows him teammates to take penalties when they ask him. He also passes the ball to players whenever they are better positioned to score.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice against Sampadoria in a 2-1 victory yesterday to carry his goal tally to 49. For the first time since 2011, Ronaldo has scored less than 50 goals in a calendar year. He reached his peak in 2013 with a goal tally of 69. Messi however is the highest goalscorer in a calendar year, with 91 goals scored in 2012.  Ronaldo is Serie A's top scorer with 14 goals, while Messi is La Liga Santander's Pichichi with 15 goals. Robert Lewandowski, Bayern Munich and Bundesliga top scorer for the year with 46 goals, comes third. Mohamed Salah and Liverpool triumphed in a 5-1 win over Arsenal yeserday, scoring once to take his goal tally to 44, and comes fourth. Harry Kane comes fifth with 42 goals, and Antoine Griezmann, sixth with 40 goals. See the top scorers and their stats below. 51 goals from 54 games: Lionel Messi (Barcelona & Argentina) 49 goals from 53 games: Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/Juventus & Portugal) 46 goals from 56 games

Monday, December 3 was a memorable night for Luka Modric, as he beat the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Griezmann, Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi to win the 2018 Ballon d'Or. Luka Modric is the first Croatian to win the prestigious award. The 33-year-old played a pivotal role captaining Croatia to second place at the 2016 World Cup in Russia. Modric also played a major role in Real Madrid's midfield as they won their third consecutive Champions League Title.  Modric is the first player to break the Messi and Ronaldo Ballon d'Or duopoly since 2007. Brazil icon Kaka was the last to lift the trophy before Ronaldo and Messi won 5 Ballon d'Or awards each across the following years. When accepting his Ballon d'Or award, Modric said,  "It's a unique feeling, I'm happy, proud and it's an honor," he said as he accepted the award. "[There are] extraordinary emotions at the moment. "I just want to thank all those who helped