A superb Lionel Messi hat trick gave Barcelona a 3-1 win over 10-man Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their last 16 King's Cup tie on Tuesday. The Argentine forward, playing for the first time since the Christmas break, also hit the crossbar and many of the Atletico fans stood and applauded him when he was replaced near the end. Barcelona made most of the early running at a chilly Vicente Calderon despite resting key players from the team who beat Real Mallorca at the weekend, including Xavi and Samuel Eto'o. A deft piece of skill from Daniel Alves unlocked the Atletico defense for Messi's opening goal on 12 minutes. The Argentine international played the ball inside and Alves sent a clever backheel through for him to run on and place a low shot past Gregory Coupet. Atletico had to play with 10 men for most of the second half after defender John Heitinga felled Messi in the penalty area as he was racing to meet an Alves cross. The referee showed the Dutchman a red card and Messi sent Coupet the wrong way to double Barca's lead before substitute Tomas Ujfalusi pulled a goal back just over 10 minutes later with a header from Simao Sabrosa's corner. Messi completed his hat trick on 80 minutes when he picked the ball up in the area, wrong-footed Coupet and lifted the ball into the roof of the net. There are five more Cup first legs on Wednesday, including holder Valencia's trip to face Racing Santander and 2007 winners Sevilla's match at home to Deportivo Coruna. The only remaining non-Primera Liga clubs Real Union and Poli Ejido of the Segunda B (third tier) are at home to Real Betis and Espanyol respectively. The northern derby between the Primera Liga's bottom club Osasuna and 23-time winner Athletic Bilbao is on Thursday, when Mallorca host Hugo Sanchez's Almeria. The second legs take place on Jan. 14 and 15. Spurs celebrate Defoe return Tottenham Hotspur celebrated the return of England striker Jermaine Defoe on Tuesday by romping to a 4-1 semifinal first leg League Cup win over Burnley. Defoe, who spent four years at Spurs before moving to Portsmouth a year ago, was presented to home fans before the match. The championship (second division) side took the lead through Martin Paterson on 15 minutes but two goals in six minutes and two more two minutes later in the second half effectively settled the tie. The visitors struck in a first half they thoroughly dominated when former Manchester United forward Chris Eagles beat two men on the right and expertly picked out top scorer Paterson for an easy back post finish. The Premier League struggler was booed off at halftime but returned to draw level almost immediately when defender Michael Dawson headed substitute Jamie O'Hara's corner home on 47 minutes. Burnley went behind six minutes later when O'Hara's volley squirmed under the body of the floundering Brian Jensen. Roman Pavlyuchenko glided past Clarke Carlisle and finished exquisitely to continue his run of scoring in each round on 65 minutes. Burnley conceded again within two minutes when Northern Ireland defender Michael Duff headed another O'Hara set
