FC Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi has equalled Telmo Zarra's 60-year-old hat trick record in the 5-0 thrashing of Levante on Sunday.
View: Gallery: Messi Shines In 500th Barca Game
The Argentine scored has taken his league goal tally to 26, as well as netted his fourth hat trick of the season.
Overall, it was the 31st occasion on which Messi scored three or more goals for his Spanish club, equalling Telmo Zarra's record from the 1950s.
With his hat trick against Levante, Messi also drew level with Cristiano Ronaldo for most hat tricks in La Liga, with both sitting on 23 trebles in Spain's top flight now.
However, counting all career hat tricks together, Messi has now scored 34 (31 for Barcelona and three for Argentina), while Ronaldo sits on 30 (27 for Real Madrid in all competitions, one for Manchester United and two for Portugal).
Sunday's treble took Messi's tally of goals to 11 in La Liga since the turn of the year, which means he has scored more goals than 77 of the 98 teams in Europe's top five leagues.
Overall, Messi has now scored 14 goals and assisted a further 10 in 11 games this year.
Read: Messi Closing In On Ronaldo's Goal Tally
Messi, who also assisted the opening strike for Neymar, won his sixth consecutive Man of the Match award in La Liga.
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