Messi hits four in Eibar rout

Lionel Messi added four more goals to his soaring early season tally as a much-changed Barcelona maintained their 100 per cent start to La Liga by routing Eibar 6-1 on Tuesday.

Paulinho and Denis Suarez also netted for the second consecutive game as Barca stretched their lead at the top to seven points over Real Madrid.

"That Messi scored four goals now isn't news," said Barca boss Ernesto Valverde after the Argentine's 43rd career hat-trick.

"He has done it so many nights, in so many games. To keep repeating it is the most difficult thing. He is an extraordinary player. I have run out of words for him."

Messi played in a more central role as Valverde heavily rotated his side for the first time since taking charge with Luis Suarez dropping to the bench among six changes from Saturday's hard-fought 2-1 win at Getafe.

And contrary to last season, Barca's back-ups proved Valverde can take the luxury of resting some of his stars with Paulinho particularly impressive on his first start.

Barca lead second-placed Sevilla by five points with Valencia now just a point further adrift as they moved up to third thanks to Simone Zaza's seven-minute hattrick in a 5-0 thrashing of Malaga.

By contrast, a fifth straight defeat to start the season sees Malaga slip to bottom of the table.

"I am tremendously proud of the performance of the players. It is a joy to be able to enjoy it with our fans," said Valencia coach Marcelino.

Santi Mina got the rout started after just 17 minutes with a neat header from Carles Soler's cross.

Zaza then completed his first ever hat-trick with three clinical close-range finishes between the 55th and 62nd minute before substitute Rodrigo rounded off the scoring.

"I didn't have anything to prove," Zaza said. "What happened on Saturday is already forgotten, I think it is normal that a player is angry when he doesn't play."