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[caption id="attachment_362" align="alignnone" width="768"] Lionel Messi Scored a hattrick against Rayo. image Source; File Pic[/caption] Internet Desk: Barcelona moved eight points clear at the top of La Liga with a 5-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano that saw the Catalans made history by going 35 games unbeaten, beating Real Madrid’s Spanish record. Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring midway through the 22 minutes, the Croatia international taking advantage of a goalkeeping mistake from Juan Carlos who fumbled a cross allowing the midfielder to take a touch before firing into an empty net. Later,the very next minute Barcelona had doubled their lead, Lionel Messi driving forwards and swapping passes with Neymar before edging it past Carlos at his near post. Rayo's task was made ever harder when Diego Llorente was sent off for a high challenge on Rakitic shortly before the break and Messi made the extra man count 10 minutes in the second half, grabbing his second of the evening after Luis Suarez's shot had hit the post. Although Manucho got one back for the hosts, they were dealt another blow when Manuel Iturra saw red for a foul on Sergio Busquets and although Luis Suarez missed the subsequent penalty, Messi scored his third of the evening, few minutes later. Arda Turan then completed the scoring in the 86th minute, heading Jeremy Mathieu's cross at the far post for his first Barcelona goal. Barcelona are placed at the top with 69 points from 27 matches while Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid are placed second and third with 61 points and 57 points from the same number of matches. Meanwhile, David Beckham has made the audacious capture of Lionel Messi one of Miami United’s long-term priorities.

The England legend, who hopes to have the club up and running by 2017, believes the Barcelona superstar is his golden ticket to ensuring the MLS franchise becomes a success.

Miami has a dense Latin population, with Messi one of the most recognisable faces in South American popular culture.

Beckham is planning tactically to make Messi the face of his franchise. Beckham is considering a host of big names as he looks for marquee signings to coincide with Miami United’s first season.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has a close relationship with Beckham, is also on United’s radar.

But Messi is Beckham’s dream capture with the former Manchester United man prepared to pull out all the stops to make it happen.