Barcelona 4-1 Tenerife

Lionel Messi started and finished the scoring at a rain-soaked Camp Nou as FC Barcelona edged closer to the Liga title courtesy of a 4-1 defeat of relegation-threatened CD Tenerife.

FC Barcelona took another step towards defending their Liga title with a 4-1 home victory against third-bottom CD Tenerife.

Scorer of two goals in the 4-1 win at Villarreal CF on Saturday, Lionel Messi took his league tally for the season to 30 with the opener on 17 minutes, hooking Zlatan Ibrahimović's knock-down over the diving Sergio Aragoneses. Tenerife had not read the script, however, and equalised when a misplaced pass from Carles Puyol led to Daniel Kome teeing up Román Martínez (39).

The hosts had been far from their fluent best but Bojan Krkić (63) restored their lead after being slipped in by Daniel Alves. Pedro Rodríguez's composed finish (77) from Messi's pass made it three before Messi (90) finished off a third assist of the night from Alves.

The triumph moves Josep Guardiola's team on to a Liga record 93 points, surpassing the 92 set by Real Madrid CF under Fabio Capello in 1996/97 when there were 22 teams rather than 20. The pressure is now on Madrid, who can once again cut Barça's lead to a point by defeating fourth-placed RCD Mallorca on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, Juan Mata scored twice as Valencia CF beat bottom club Xerez CD 3-1 at Mestalla, a result which all but confirms third place for Blanquinegros. UD Almería, meanwhile, moved six points clear of the relegation zone and up to 12th with a 4-2 home win against European hopefuls Villarreal.

The Yellow Submarine were already a goal down to Albert Crusat's effort (14) when Mateo Musacchio was dismissed with 16 minutes gone. Getafe CF went above Villarreal into sixth following a 1-1 home draw with Real Sporting de Gijón.