Lionel Messi scores for Barcelona on his 500th appearance for the club

FC Barcelona finished a tremendous 2015 on top of the La Liga table as Lionel Messi scored on his 500th cap for the Catalan club against Real Betis.

Betis defender, Heiko Westermann handed Barca the lead at the half an hour mark when he scored an own goal trying to clear a rebound from a controversial Neymar penalty.

Messi recovered from a head injury which silenced the Camp Nou to double Barcelona’s lead before Luis Suarez scored a brace in the second half to conclude matters for the Catalan giants.

Barcelona’s win against Betis breaks their consecutive run of draws in the league, thus concluding a brilliant year. Barca scored 180 goals in 2015, two more that Real Madrid’s 178 in 2014, going on to create a new Spanish record.

The win levels Barcelona’s points with Atletico Madrid, but the current league champions have a game in hand over their title challengers.

Real Madrid, who won 3-1 against Real Sociedad lies third in the table, two points behind the league leaders.

Before the start of the match, Barcelona captain Andrés Iniesta carried the recently won Club World Cup trophy to display it with the other 4 trophies won in 2015 – The Champions League, Copa Del Rey, La Liga and Uefa Super Cup.

It was a harsh decision from the referee, when a foul on Lionel Messi by Betis goalkeeper Antonio Adan was adjudged to be a penalty. This allowed Barca to take the lead in the 30th minute through a Westermann’s own goal.

After just 4 minutes, Messi slid home his 425th goal for the club thus doubling Barca’s lead.

After the halftime, Luis Suarez scored two goals to overtake Neymar as La Liga’s top goalscorer with 15 goals, as reported by BBC.

Barcelona presented an attacking masterpiece, which saw them hit the post as many as four times during the match.

Betis on the other hand had no control over the proceedings and lost both Westermann and Bruno Gonzalez due to injuries. To add more woes to their problem, boss Pep Mel was asked to leave the field after arguing on the touchline.

Up next, Barcelona will face 13th-placed Espanyol on Jan. 2, 2016.