Messi caps off recording-breaking appearance with brace as Barcelona beat Real Sociedad 6-1, move to second on points table

Real Sociedad vs Barcelona: Barcelona enjoyed a field day as they defeated Real Sociedad 6-1 at the Anoeta Stadium in the La Liga on Sunday.

Lionel Messi grabbed a brace on his record-breaking 768^th appearance for the Catalan Club with Dest following suit. Griezmann and Dembélé also found the back of the net to cap off a stunning night for the visitors.

La Liga Result: Messi scores a brace as Barcelona win 4-1 against SD Huesca, move to second on the points table

Barrenetxea got a wonderful goal for the hosts in between all these shots from the opposition, which proved to be nothing but a mere consolation for Sociedad.

It was a night to forget for Imanol Alguacil’s men.

The Blaugrana side dominated proceedings right from the word go as they pressed the opposition while Sociedad planned to sit back and play on the counter when possible.

Sociedad has the first opportunity of the game when Isak came close to breaking the deadlock, but his shot was saved by ter Stegan.

Once that concluded, it was all Barcelona as Griezmann opened the scoring in the 37^th minute, when he scored off the rebound from Dembélé’s strike.

Isak had a chance to equalize almost immediately but ter Stegan denied him with a sharp stop.

Dest made it 2-0 in the 43^rd minute by sending his shot into the bottom left corner from a Messi through ball to score his first of the night and first ever goal in the La Liga.

Barcelona was on course for another victory, but it was made sweeter in the second half was a bonanza package yet to arrive.

In the second half, Dest scored his 2^nd of the night in the 53^rd minute when a low ball across goal from Alba was steered into an empty net and make it 3-0

Messi added his name to the score sheet in the 56^th minute as he nudged his effort past the onrushing Remiro to make it 4-0.

Dembélé nearly got number 5 of the night but Remiro deflected his shot with his right boot to avoid further embarrassment but it was not over for Sociedad as he scored in the 71^st minute.

The Frenchman got onto the ball from Moriba to strike a precise finish into the corner of the net for 5-0.

Barrenetxea pulled one back for the hosts after playing a one-two with Fernandez, before sending the ball into the top-left corner from the edge of the box to make it 5-1. A stunning goal none the less.

Messi, after some intricate passing in combination with Alba and Trincao made it 6-1 as he drilled past Remiro to complete the goal scoring spree and embarrassment.

Barcelona’s consistency and attacking push at the Sociedad goal was nothing short of amazing.

A magical night for Barcelona as they got themselves right back into the title challenge and are now just 4 points adrift of Atlético Madrid in 2^nd place while Sociedad stay 5^th in the table.

This win was Barcelona’s 5^th on the bounce in the league as they head into an international break before playing Real Valladolid at home on April 5.