Real Betis 2-3 Barcelona: 5 Hits and Flops as Barca clinch thriller | La Liga 2019-20

#1 Hit: Lionel Messi

Messi created a hat-trick of assists and could have netted a hat-trick of goals too against Betis

Lionel Messi tops the list here, having created a hat-trick of assists on a tough night where he could have conceivably had a hat-trick of goals too.

Joel Robles made two big second-half saves to thwart him as he skipped past Betis defenders in the area, before having a genuine penalty appeal ignored by the referee in stoppage-time - having been manhandled by Marc Bartra. His assists were more of the same: perfectly weighted passes for teammates, who showed good anticipation, positioning and made no mistake in three different positions.

The first, he combined with an advancing de Jong before delivering an over-the-top pass which split the ball-watching Betis backline. Touch, control, finish. The second was a free-kick, though an unlikely source in Busquets was on hand to apply the finishing touch. The third and winning goal though, was both emphatic and unforgiving. Lenglet towered above his marker, left him in a heap on the turf as he headed home into the far corner.

As usual, Messi was a nuisance for the opposition to live with. He won 8 of 13 duels, completed game-highs in successful dribbles (6) and key passes (6), subtly orchestrating attacks as he always does. The icing on the cake for this performance would have been a goal - not for lack of trying - but judging by his celebration when VAR ruled Lenglet's finish a goal, grinding out a hard-fought win was more important.

You could see him remonstrating with officials immediately post-match and had a point with his passionate protest. After all, the hosts were far from subtle in their attempts to frustrate him and other teammates as they advanced towards goal. This was a physical game with fouls aplenty, so perhaps the officials felt it was necessary to let things play out.

They shouldn't have because they were allowing the behaviour to continue - shirt-pulling, pushing, no attempt to play the ball - and rather than stamp it out, the dark arts of defending was indirectly being encouraged. Nonetheless, it speaks volumes that their collective efforts still were not enough to stop Messi from winning the game and he didn't even need to score.