Barcelona equaled the Spanish top flight record of 38 successive games without defeat following their 3-1 La Liga win over Leganes on Saturday.
By the victory, the Catalan side have matched Real Sociedad’s unbeaten run between 1979 and 1980, and are set to shatter the record with their next game.
La Liga top scorer Lionel Messi struck a hat-trick for the runaway leaders.
Barca’s last defeat in the league was a 2-0 loss at Malaga on April 8, 2017.
Messi had finely curled home a 30-yard free-kick before smashing home a Philippe Coutinho through ball to make it 2-0.
However, Leganes responded through Nabil el Zhar who pulled one back before, abain, Messi scored from Ousmane Dembele’s assist to complete his 45th career hat-trick.
According to sports data website, Opta, Messi’s free-kick goal makes him the first player to score from outside the box in six consecutive La Liga games since Opta started taking statistical notes in the 2003-2004 Season.
Barcelona is now seven games from an unbeaten La Liga season, with 12 points above second-placed Atletico Madrid. (Reuters)
