Lionel Messi scored a hat trick as Barcelona routed Tenerife 5-0 Sunday to maintain its two-point advantage in the Spanish league after closest rival Real Madrid also won, beating Mallorca 2-0 thanks to goals from Gonzalo Higuain and Esteban Granero. Alejandro Alfaro had three good chances to put the host ahead but the Tenerife striker hit the crossbar on the first occasion and goalkeeper Victor Valdes foiled his other two efforts from inside the area. Those missed chances proved costly as Messi scored the opener in the 36th minute after receiving the ball from Bojan Krkic inside the area. The recently crowned world player of the year then turned provider, as it was his free kick from the right that Carles Puyol headed home in the 44th and, a minute later, Andres Iniesta broke out of the midfield, spotted Krkic down the left side and the teenage striker again set up Messi for an easy tap in. The Argentina international joined Valencia's David Villa as the league's joint leading scorer with his 12th goal of the season to complete his hat trick in the 75th after curling a left-footed shot from outside the area over goalkeeper Sergio Aragoneses into the top corner. Ezequiel Luna completed the rout with an own-goal in the 85th. In contrast to the balmy weather at Tenerife's Heliodro Rodriguez Lopo stadium, Higuain helped Madrid keep the pressure on Barcelona with a victory in steady snowfall in the Spanish capital. The Argentina striker darted in from the right and across the edge of the area before curling a left-footed shot around goalkeeper Dudu Aouate into the top corner for his 11th goal of the season. Higuain then slipped past his defender in the 50th and crossed to Granero who volleyed past Aouate from close range. Elsewhere, Valencia beat last-place Xerez 3-1 to stay third; while Deportivo La Coruna was a 1-0 winner over Osasuna; Athletic Bilbao drew 1-1 at Malaga; Sporting beat Getafe 1-0; Espanyol scored a 2-1 victory over Zaragoza; Barcelona leads the table with 43 points, Madrid has 41, Valencia 35, Deportivo 31 while Sevilla and Mallorca are both on 30. A minute's silence was observed for the three people who died during an armed attack on the Togo team bus at the Africa Cup on Friday. AC Milan routs Juve 3-0 In Rome, Ronaldinho scored twice after Alessandro Nesta gave AC Milan the lead in a 3-0 win over Juventus Sunday that put their side in control of second place in Serie A. Nesta scored in the 29th minute after being left unmarked at the far post for a corner, while Ronaldinho headed in from another corner in the 72nd before finding the target from close range in the 88th. Milan now has 37 points – eight behind leader Inter Milan – while third-place Juve is level on 33 points with Napoli. Earlier, Napoli extended its unbeaten run under new coach Walter Mazzari to 12 matches with a 1-0 victory over Sampdoria. AS Roma, which beat Chievo Verona 1-0 Saturday, is fifth, followed by Fiorentina and Palermo, who both won Sunday and have 30 points each. Elsewhere, Fiorentina rallied to beat Bari 2-1; while Palermo edged Atalanta 1-0; Livorno beat Parma 2-1; Cagliari edged Bologna 1-0; Genoa beat 10-man Catania 2-0; Udinese drew 1
