Messi Scores Hat-Trick In Barca's 5-2 Win, Breaks Ronaldo's La Liga Record [Video]

Lionel Messi broke a special record, held by former Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, in the La Liga Sunday.

Messi, who was presented with the Ballon d'Or trophy in front of the home crowd at Nou Camp, clinched the feat during his side's 5-2 victory over Mallorca. It was a special moment for Messi as his sons Thiago, Mateo, and Ciro were brought on the pitch to hand the award to their father.

The emotional moment probably strengthened Messi's mindset further as the Argentine went on to net three goals and became the player with most hat-tricks in La Liga's history. With the hat-trick, Messi overtook Ronaldo's 34 hat-tricks in La Liga, which the Portuguese registered during his nine-year stint with Real before he moved to Juventus ahead of the 2018-19 season.

While Ronaldo scored 34 hat-tricks in only 288 matches, Messi needed 462 games to score the record 35th hat-trick.

Just a week ago, Messi surpassed Ronaldo's 5 Ballon d'Or awards by clinching a record sixth in Paris. The Barca skipper finished ahead of Liverpool FC's Virgil van Dijk and Ronaldo.

With the treble on Sunday against Mallorca, Messi saw his name in yet another record. He became the only player to score 10 or more goals in each of the past 14 seasons in Europe’s top-five leagues.

After 15 matches into La Liga 2019-20 season, Barca and Real Madrid have 34 points each but the defending champions are on the top of the table with a better goal difference. Sevilla with 31 points are placed third, while former champions Atletico Madrid have been struggling this season and are currently on the seventh place.

Messi and Barca are next in action Wednesday when they head to Italy to take on Inter Milan in their Champions League group fixture. While Barca have already qualified for the Round of 16, Inter Milan are battling Borussia Dortmund for the second qualification spot.