Messi Puts on a Masterpiece in Barcelona's Win Over Real Valladolid

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Barcelona's opponent in La Liga on Tuesday, Real Valladolid, is owned in part by Brazilian great Ronaldo. And even El Fenemeno had to be impressed with what he saw from Lionel Messi.

The Barcelona maestro scored two goals–including a curling free kick–sandwiched in between assists on goals from Arturo Vidal and Luis Suarez as part of a 5-1 win that fired the club into first place in the league.

Messi warmed up with his pinpoint lob of an assist to Vidal, a goal on which the Chilean did well to extend his leg and get enough of a touch to direct it in to restore Barcelona's lead at 2-1.

Five minutes later, Messi scored on a free kick for the 50th time in his career, bending a left-footed strike into the upper right-hand corner to make it 3-1.

His highlight-reel day wasn't done there, as he put Oscar Plano on the wrong end of a nutmeg that wowed the Camp Nou crowd.

Messi scored his second in the 75th minute before setting up Suarez in the 77th by threading a pass through the defense, capping a breakout day for Barcelona's attack. 

For Suarez, the goal means he has now scored against all 27 La Liga opponents he has faced since joining Barcelona.