AP, Barcelona :Lionel Messi shrugged off a missed penalty and another injury to Neymar by scoring one goal and setting up two more to lead Barcelona to a 5-0 rout at 10-man Levante on Sunday as it stayed top of the Spanish league.Messi set up Neymar for the 34th-minute opener before flubbing a spot kick in the 42nd after being fouled by Loukas Vyntra, who was sent off.Barcelona didn’t blink, however, and two minutes later Ivan Rakitic scored his first goal for Barcelona with a blistering strike from outside the area.Barcelona received another blow when Neymar went down with a left ankle injury in the 50th, but again Messi was there to square a pass for Neymar’s replacement, Sandro Ramirez, to score in the 57th before Pedro Rodriguez added a goal from Jordi Alba’ pass in the 64th.Messi then capped the demolition in the 77th after Levante goalkeeper Jesus Fernandez spilled the ball and watched as Messi chipped it back over his head.All told, Messi has played a direct part in nine of Barcelona’s 12 goals in its five wins across all competitions, scoring three and assisting on six more.”Messi is one-of-a-kind,” said Barcelona coach Luis Enrique. “He doesn’t just dribble and score goals, he also assists like he did today, and in what a spectacular fashion.”Equally as important for Luis Enrique’s focus on improving Barcelona defense, his team has not allowed a goal this season.Barcelona’s fourth win in as many rounds left it two points ahead of Sevilla after its 3-1 win at Cordoba. Defending champion Atletico Madrid trails Barcelona by four points. Real Madrid is another two points adrift back in sixth place behind Granada, Valencia and Villarreal.Neymar went down clutching his lower left leg after Pedro Lopez fell on top of him while contesting the ball.Barcelona team doctors attended him and signaled for a substitution even though Neymar was soon on his feet and appeared to want to go back on.”Neymar twisted his ankle and suffered a sprain and we substituted him as a precaution,” Luis Enrique said. “He asked for the change and later wanted to try and continue playing, but we had already made the decision.”In July, Neymar fractured a vertebra in his back during the World Cup. He recovered in time for the start of the season but then missed the league opener with an ankle sprain.Levante remained in last place and without a goal scored through four games.Elsewhere, Villarreal roared back from a two-goal deficit to rout Rayo Vallecano 4-2, while Almeria hung on for a wild 2-1 win at Real Sociedad to claim its first victory of the season after having both a player and its coach sent off.Sevilla outclassed Cordoba to remain undefeated.
