Messi, Sanchez star in Barca rout

Lionel Messi bagged an 11-minute hat-trick as Barcelona cruised to an 8-0 victory in their pre-season friendly with Moroccan side Raja Casablanca.

Alexis Sanchez claimed two goals, while Dani Alves, Sergi Gomez and Gerard Deulofeu were all on target in the rout, which was Barça’s second warm-up match following their 2-1 win over Hamburg on Tuesday.

Sanchez opened the scoring in the 12th minute when Messi’s strike at goal deflected into the path of Alves, who passed across the box to give the Chilean the simplest of finishes into an open net.

After 34 minutes, Messi doubled Barça’s lead with a composed side-foot conversion and the Argentinian extended the advantage three minutes later, claiming his second goal after an exquisite one-two with Sanchez.

Sanchez was handed his brace on a plate after Ibrahim Afellay saw a shot beaten away, and Messi completed his treble on the stroke of halftime with a tap-in from a Sanchez assist.

New coach Tito Vilanova rang the changes during the second period but the alterations did not slow Barça’s scoring. Sanchez was fouled in the penalty area and Alves stepped up to make it six from 12 yards.

Further gloss was added to the scoreline in the final minutes, with Gomez smashing a free-kick into the roof of the net in the 87th minute and young forward Deulofeu tucking away the eighth two minutes later.

Barcelona will be back in action next Saturday against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes before a glamour meeting with Manchester United four days later in Sweden.

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