Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez lead Barcelona romp against Real Betis

Lionel Messi hailed Barcelona’s “spectacular” year after rounding off an impressive 2015 by scoring in a 4-0 victory over Real Betis and admitted it would be hard to repeat the team’s achievements in 2016. They are tied for points with Atletico Madrid but have played one less game.

The Barcelona players returned to training this week following some time away after their triumph at the Club World Cup in Japan and the Christmas break.

Messi found the back of the net for the sixth time in the league this season just after the half-hour with a simple tap-in from Neymar’s assist, his 292nd Spanish Primera League strike.

Barely five minutes later Neymar squared a simple ball for Messi to poke home.

“We controlled the game and had a lot of chances, which, if we had taken them, would have made the second-half more comfortable”, said Benitez.

“So no… hopefully he can be here at City obviously, but of course it’s always the player’s decision and I think he’s very comfortable and very calm in Barcelona”.

“The only important thing is to get three points and extend our lead at the top of the table”.

Any progress Betis felt it was making was quickly halted as Barca was awarded a controversial penalty just before the half-hour. Yet, for the first time in his Madrid career, Ronaldo failed to even hit the target from the spot as he blasted wildly over.

Three minutes later, Messi played Neymar through with a long pass that he returned for the club’s all-time leading scorer to notch his 425th club goal.

Elsewhere, goals from Ciro Immobile and Ever Benega earned Sevilla a 2-0 home win over Espanyol, Eibar defeated struggling Sporting Gijon by the same scoreline thanks to Keko and Borja Baston, while the game between Getafe and Deportivo La Coruna ended goalless.

– Neymar has missed more penalties than any other La Liga player this season: 3 (four penalty goals from seven attempts, all competitions).