Barcelona and Las Palmas played in an empty Camp Nou on Sunday due to violence that stemmed from the Catalan independence referendum.

There were fears the game was going to be postponed because of the protests, but it went ahead in the end - albeit behind closed doors.

A club statement read: "FC Barcelona condemns the events which have taken place in many parts of Catalonia today in order to prevent its citizens exercising their democratic right to free expression.

"Given the exceptional nature of events, the Board of Directors have decided that the FC Barcelona first team game against Las Palmas will be played behind closed doors following the Professional Football League's refusal to postpone the game."

Back to the football, goals from Lionel Messi (2) and Sergio Busquets secured a comfortable 3-0 victory, with Messi once again the star with his brace.

Busquets opened the scoring in the 49th minute with a header - his first goal for Barcelona in three years - but thereafter it turned into the Messi show.

The Argentina international netted in the 70th minute to make it 2-0 and then again seven minutes later for his second and Barca's third.

Victory means the Blaugrana are now five points clear at the top of La Liga and 10 ahead of rivals Real Madrid, who play Espanyol in Sunday's late kick-off.

Messi's goalscoring form has been key to Barca's winning streak thus far. The 29-year-old has 11 goals in La Liga already, not to mention two assists.

It was his first effort against Las Palmas that really stole headlines from the game. In the video below, Messi makes the run behind the defence to latch on to Denis Suarez's through ball.

From there, it was sheer Messi magic. The Argentina lures the goalkeeper out, dribbles around him with ease and then slots into an open net. Check it out.

MESSI TOYS WITH LAS PALMAS' GOALKEEPER

Goalkeepers around the world will feel Leandro Chichizola's pain - the 27-year-old isn't the first to be humiliated by Messi.

He's in terrifying form at the moment and looks virtually unstoppable, as do Barcelona.