Espanyol 0 Barcelona 4: Lionel Messi nets stunning free kick double in derby thrashing

Barcelona remain at the top of La Liga after thrashing Espanyol in the derbi barceloní.

Lionel Messi scored two outstanding free kicks with Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez also on the score sheet.

Barcelona went into the weekend as the La Liga leaders with 28 points with Sevilla missing the opportunity to move top after being held to a draw by Valencia earlier on Saturday.

Espanyol’s resistance was broken after just 17 minutes when Messi, who won the free kick himself, curled a superb left-footed shot past Diego Lopez and into the goalkeeper's top-left corner.

Messi turned provider for his side’s second, finding Dembele who dropped a shoulder to deceive his marker before bending his own excellent effort into the far corner.

Suarez made it three just before the half-time whistle with Messi producing another moment of magic with 25 minutes of the contest remaining.

While he was a little further out than his first effort the result was the same - finding the top corner with another outrageous effort to take his tally for the season up to 17.