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Lionel Messi dominance kept Barcelona alive in their La Liga game yesterday vs Real Betis as he provided a hat-trick of assists for Barcelona's three goals of the night. Barcelona won 3-2. Quique Setien's anticipated return to the Estadio Benito Villamarin turned out to be a difficult night for the Cules as they got off to a rocky start of the match. The visitors were stunned by the hosts (Real Betis) as Sergio Canales scored from the penalty spot in in the sixth minute after a handball was called by VAR on Clement Lenglet. Three minutes later, Messi' sent a pinpoint pass onto Frenkie de Jong's chest and the latter converted into a goal, Barcelona's first for the night.  In the 26th minute, Nabil Fekir's long-range shot restored the lead for Real Betis. Sergio Busquets converted Messi's freekick into a goal in the final seconds of the first half to make Barcelona level with the hosts. In the second half, Clement Lenglet scored a header from a loftin

Messi is as mesmerizing as ever, showing no signs of decline. Barcelona new coach Quique Setien is the latest Barcelona manager to benefit from Messi's scoring prowess. Messi scored Barcelona's lone goal in their last La Liga match vs Grenada. That goal saw him produce an extraordinary record which was published by Barcelona's Turkish page - 500 goals in his last 500 games for Barcelona. Within the same time frame, Messi has provided 200 assists, enjoyed 358 wins, 89 draws and suffered 53 defeats with Barcelona. Quique Setien has chosen to rest the Barcelona star in their round-of-32 Copa del Rey tie vs Ibiza. Other notable absentees include Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique. Injured Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele will also not partake in the game. Leo Messi has scored 17 goals in his 21 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona this season.