In front of more than 70,000 fans, Lionel Messi showed off the Ballon d’Or trophy he won – then scored the 53rd hat-trick of his career.
Barcelona’s main man was on the pitch with his sixth golden ball and shared the moment with his kids before turning his attention to Mallorca where he scored two first half goals to help his side to a 4-1 lead, though Luis Suarez’s goal stole the show.
Following Real Madrid’s 2-0 victory over Espanyol earlier in the day to temporarily move top, the pressure was again on Barca to provide a response and they did so with a 5-2 win.
In addition to Messi’s treble and Suarez’s classy finish, Antoine Griezmann scored the other.
In Paris at the start of December, Messi pipped Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Juventus man Cristiano Ronaldo.
However, Messi’s mum revealed the player was not expecting to win it for a sixth time.
“We thought the fifth [Ballon d’Or] had been the last. Honestly, this was a beautiful surprise. He did not expect it either.
“I do not know if he found out minutes before, I do not know, but we did not know anything.”
But not everyone was impressed with the win and, in addition to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, one fan did not think Messi should have won and even called him overrated.
“Messi is a great player, but he’s only done it in LaLiga,” he continued.
“He’s only done it in a league where really there are only two teams involved; it’s like Scotland with Celtic and Rangers.
“I’d love to see how good he is in the Premier League, because when he faced Liverpool last season he did diddly-squat.”
