Barca will learn from narrow win

Lionel Messi once again grabbed the headlines with a stunning hat-trick but that only told half the story on a night of sensational drama at Riazor.

It seemed the Catalan club was on its way to a thumping win after Jordi Alba, Cristian Tello and Messi all struck within the first 18 minutes but Depor replied with a Luis Pizzi penalty and an Alex Bergantinosn strike.

Messi struck his second and third in-between Pizzi's second of the match and the dismissal of Javier Mascherano while an own goal from Alba left the visitor clinging on for dear life.

That it managed to hold on to claim a 5-4 success was of great satisfaction to Iniesta, who is aware it needs to continue to improve.

"We could have killed the game off in the first half, but Depor are dangerous and they caused us a lot of problems in defence," he told the club's official website.

"We're leaving with the sensation that we won a very difficult match. We have to learn a lot of things from this match."

Alba agreed with his team-mate's assertions and hailed Depor for its resolve.

"It was a very hard-fought victory, but it was very important," said the former Valencia left-back. "The important thing is that we won the game and that we're returning with the three points.

"At 2-3, the game was fairly even and it ended up being a crazy game. The team played an excellent match but we conceded four goals."

Messi continues to light up the Primera Division and his treble took his tally for 2012 to 59 - beating his previous record of two years ago.

"Statistics are only numbers. I'm only concerned with winning the three points whenever possible," said the Argentinian.