Lionel Messi stars as Barcelona seal record league win

Messi now has 24 league goals this season

Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick as Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 3-0 and made history by winning a 16th successive La Liga game.

Their victory took them past the previous record of 15 in a row set by the great 1960-1961 Real Madrid team of Alfredo Di Stefano.

The defending champions' latest win at Camp Nou means they now lead Real Madrid by 10 points in the table.

Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid face Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Messi struck twice in 12 first-half minutes and again in the 79th to move two goals clear of Real's Cristiano Ronaldo at the top of the division's scoring chart with 24 goals.

The 23-year-old Argentine said: "I'm happy with the win against a tough team who are not going through the best time and that could have made things hard for us."

He added: "I am not thinking about being league top scorer at all. The important thing is that we continue this winning run as we have Real Madrid just behind us and we know they will fight to the end."