he Argentina forward struck again in the 71st by polishing off a superb passing combination with Andres Iniesta and fellow goalscorer Alexis Sanchez to reach the 60-goal mark in all competitions for the second straight season.

"We know Messi is the best," Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said. "We know every time he comes on he will give us something."

Barcelona leads by 11 points with four rounds to go and would clinch its 22nd domestic crown if defending champion Real Madrid drops points against Malaga on Wednesday.

Messi has been hampered for the past month by a right hamstring injury.

Since hurting his leg on April 2, the four-time world player of the year has missed four games— including Wednesday's stinging 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich that sealed its exit from the Champions League— and come off the bench in two more before Sunday's match.

Like last week's game at Athletic Bilbao, Messi looked fit enough as he again tilted the match in Barcelona's favor.

Messi's double gave took his league-leading goal tally to 46 for the season, and kept him on pace to beat his own record of 50 from the last campaign.