Lionel Messi becomes the 10th player in Europe to record three assists in one game this season

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By James Stroud

Published Feb 10, 2020

Messi, Werner and Firmino are just a few to have bagged 3+ assists in one game

Lionel Messi was back to his very best on Sunday evening.

Barcelona travelled to Betis on the back of a disappointing Copa del Rey performance exit against Athletic Bilbao.

And it looked as if Barca would taste defeat once again when they fell behind after just six minutes.

But Messi managed to drag his side to all three points.

His sublime through-ball was volleyed home by Frenkie de Jong three minutes after the opener.

And he then set up goals for Sergio Busquets and Clement Lenglet to record a hat-trick of assists.

According to WhoScored.com, only six players in Europe's top five leagues managed to record three assists in one game last season.

Messi became the 10th player to do that this campaign. We've listed the other nine players to record a hat-trick of assists this season below.

Marcel Sabitzer | Union Berlin 0-4 RB LEIPZIG | August 18, 2019

The versatile midfielder managed a goal and three assists in Leipzig's first Bundesliga game of the season. What a way to open up your campaign.

Lorenzo Pellegrini | ROMA 4-2 Sassuolo | September 15, 2019

Pellegrini notched a hat-trick of assists as Roma beat Sassuolo in September. In 16 Serie A games this season, he's managed eight assists.

Islam Slimani | MONACO 4-1 Brest | September 28, 2019

Slimani is enjoying life in Ligue 1. In 11 starts, he's managed eight goals and seven assists. Three of those assists came in Monaco's 4-1 thrashing of Brest in September.

Lys Mousset | Sheffield United 3-0 Burnley | November 2, 2019

The Frenchman only has four assists this season. Three of those came in Sheffield United's 3-0 victory over Burnley in November.

Timo Werner | RB LEIPZIG 8-0 Mainz | November 2, 2019

On the same day Mousset managed a hat-trick of assists for Sheffield United, Werner did the same for Leipzig. However, he also managed to score three times that day. Ridiculous.

Radja Nainggolan | CAGLIARI 5-2 Fiorentina | November 10, 2019

Nainggolan has been superb for Cagliari this season. He scored and recorded a hat-trick of assists against Fiorentina.

Florian Niederlechner | Hoffenheim 2-4 AUGSBURG | December 13, 2019

Augsburg are currently nine points above the drop-zone, largely thanks to the 17 goal contributions from Niederlechner this season.

Luis Suárez | BARCELONA 4-1 Deportivo Alavés | December 21, 2019

Messi wasn't the first Barcelona player to record a hat-trick of assists. Suarez did the same, while also netting a goal, against Alaves a few months back. Unfortunately, the Uruguayan's season has since been cut short through injury.