Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona comfortably got the better of Elche at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening in the La Liga.

Ronald Koeman’s were coming from the back drop of their disappointing 1-1 draw with Cadiz on Saturday.

However, the Camp Nou side amended their ways with a return to winning paths again on Wednesday.

Messi gave Barcelona the lead three minutes after the break, he then made it 2-0 twenty minutes later.

Jordi Alba then completed the scoring in the 73rd minute as Barcelona moved withing five points of leaders Atletico Madrid.

Furthermore, the Catalan club are just two points away from Real Madrid who sits in second place with 52 points.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid defeated Atalanta 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League round of sixteen first leg tie in Bergamo in Italy.

Zinedine Zidane’s men won their La Liga game at the weekend against Real Valladolid without star striker, Karim Benzema who is out injured.

The capital club has a long injury list which has the French striker, Eden Hazard, Daniel Carvajal, Eder Militao, Odriozola, Sergio Ramos and Rodrygo as well as Federico Valverde all out injured.

Atalanta were reduced to ten men after Remo Freuler denied Mendy a clear goal scoring chance in the 17th minute of the game.

However, Real failed to capitalize for a long time in the game with the first half ending goalless before Ferland Mendy scored a spectacular effort with few minutes left in the game.

In other UEFA Champions League match played, Manchester City defeated Borussia Monchengladach 2-0 to take a first leg advantage back to England.

Meanwhile, Europa league matches on Thursday Granada will face Napoli, Villarreal will host RB Salzburg and Manchester United will play Real Sociedad after a 4-0 victory in the first leg.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu