Lionel Messi struck twice for Barcelona as they defeated Espanyol 2-0 on Saturday.

Messi dinked his first goal from the edge of the box, with Espanyol defender Victor Sanchez failing to head clear as he ran back towards the goal-line.

The Argentine finished off a counter-attack late on to take his tally to 31 goals for the season.

"Three years ago after 29 matches Barcelona had eight more points than Atletico and 12 more than Real Madrid," argued Barca coach Ernesto Valverde.

"Four games later, they were level with Atletico and had one more than Madrid.

"These things can happen to us or anyone."

Barcelona will continue to challenge on all fronts and the coach explained that everyone will be rotated.

"Taking the schedule into account, we have to rest everyone," he explained.

"The matches are close together, so we'll see if Messi rests or not."