Temi: La Liga, Barcelona, Espanyol, Lionel Messi
The Barcelona skipper attained two personal landmarks with his goals in Saturday's Catalan Derby win.

For the umpteenth time, Lionel Messi entered La Liga's record books as Barcelona cruised to an emphatic 4-0 win away to Espanyol on Saturday night. The Argentinian forward set the ball rolling by winning a free-kick and grabbing his side's first goal in the 17th minute with a sublime effort – one that has been tipped as a goal of the season contender.

The 31-year-old forward topped his feat by assisting Ousmane Dembele for Barcelona's second goal 10 minutes later. The Frenchman, who has now been involved in eight goals in his last eight appearances for the Blaugrana, found the back of the net with a powerful right-footed strike.

Luis Suarez grabbed Barca's third by nutmegging Espanyol's goalkeeper in the 45th-minute. Lionel Messi subsequently dropped the icing on the cake in the derby by scoring yet another sublime free-kick in the 65th minute. The Barcelona No.10, who has now managed 11 goals and eight assists in the ongoing La Liga campaign, eventually entered the competition record books with his night's exploits.

Firstly, Lionel Messi became the only player in the Spanish domestic league's history to have scored 10 or more goals in 13 consecutive seasons. His two goals also meant that for the first time ever in his career, the Barcelona captain managed to score two direct free-kick goals in a La Liga game.

Momentarily, Lionel Messi has the most goals from direct free-kicks this season than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.