?Barcelona striker Leo Messi scoredhis second La Liga hat-trick in a week and earned a penalty helping his team beat Zaragoza 4-2 away.

The Argentinean produced another magnificent performance to keep Barca level on points with Real Madrid, just seven days afterscoring three times against Valencia.

His performance was remarkable as he had been a doubt for the game with a mouth infection before recovering his place alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovich and Pedro Rodriguez in the Barcelona attack.

Barcelona's Lionel Messi celebrates his second goal against Zaragoza during their Spanish first division soccer match at La Romadera stadium in Zaragoza. March 21, 2010

Xavi Hernandez was still absent with a calf problem and Seydou Keita replaced him in midfield, while Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol were on the bench.

The good news became even better for Barcelona after just four minutes when Messi scored with a header. The Zaragoza defense gavethe ball away far too easily, Pedro crossed from the left and Messi headed home from six yards out.

Toure Yaya and Ibrahimovich had chances to double Barcelona's lead, but Ibrahimovich missed a close range header before Zaragozafinally began to get into the game.