Barca punishes Osasuna, 8-0

Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and set up two more goals as Barcelona rebounded from two straight draws with an 8-0 rout of Osasuna on Saturday in the Spanish league.

Having twice squandered 2-0 leads during the past week with costly lapses in defense, Barcelona erased any questions about its defensive strength with an overwhelming attacking display that gave Osasuna no chance at Camp Nou stadium.

Barcelona was up 5-0 by halftime through Messi's double, goals by Cesc Fabregas and David Villa, and Osasuna defender Roversio's own goal.

Messi assisted Xavi Hernandez at the beginning of the second half before Villa and the Argentina star capped the win late.

''I think we played very well. It wasn't a perfect game, but we created a lot of scoring chances,'' Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets said. ''It's true that we were coming off two draws and nobody was pleased with that. This was an important win.''

Messi is tied with Valencia's Roberto Soldado as the league's leading scorer with five goals each - one more than Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.

Earlier, Soldado gave Valencia a 1-0 win at Sporting Gijon. Malaga edged Mallorca 1-0, and the promoted Granada beat Villarreal 1-0 for its first win in Spain's first division in 35 years.

Camp Nou began the match by welcoming captain Carles Puyol back to the starting 11 for the first time since May.

The European champion showed that while its defensive line may be thin with Gerard Pique still nursing a calf injury, it has a surplus of attacking players as the absence of the injured Andres Iniesta and Alexis Sanchez went unnoticed.

Even so, Barcelona's defense looked set to make yet another mistake just two minutes in when Osasuna forward Juan ''Nino'' Martinez almost surprised goalkeeper Victor Valdes with a cross that hit the crossbar.

But Pep Guardiola's team settled in and quickly went about picking apart its visitors.

Messi finished off another example of Barcelona's exquisite one-touch passing game five minutes in when Dani Alves headed on Sergio Busquets pass for the two-time Ballon D'Or winner to tap over the goalline.

Messi and Fabregas demonstrated once again they haven't missed a beat since they played together as teenagers on Barcelona's youth team.

Messi lofted a pass over the defensive line to a streaking Fabregas who expertly volleyed it into the right corner of the net to double Barcelona's lead in the 13th.

Barcelona made sure not to relax as it had let the same 2-0 lead slip to both AC Milan and Real Sociedad in the last week, and soon put the result beyond doubt.

Messi hit the post with a header in the 30th, but four minutes later Villa received a pass from Eric Abidal, cut back to avoid diving Osasauna goalkeeper Andres Fernandez, and scored his first goal of the Spanish season.

The Spain striker created Barcelona's fifth when Fernandez blocked his strike, only to see it ricochet off Roversio and into the back of his net in the 40th.

A minute later it was Fabregas' turn to draw in the defense before laying off for the unmarked Messi to rifle a shot into the net.

Messi was denied against by the woodwork shortly after halftime. But he soon found Xavi alone, and the midfielder chipped over the flatfooted Fernandez who could only watch the ball land in his net.

With Osasuna demoralized, Fabregas laid the ball off for Villa to get his double in the 76th, and Messi then dribbled through the middle of the defense before slotting in his third three minutes later.

Last season, Barcelona recorded its biggest away win when it beat Almeria 8-0.

Its most lopsided win ever came in the 1949-50 season when it beat Gimnastic 10-1.