FC Barcelona News: 23 January 2012; Barça Crush Malaga, Real Madrid Maintain Five Point Lead

Messi hat-trick conquers Malaga - Yahoo! Eurosport
The Argentine forward opened the scoring shortly after the half-hour mark in a pedestrian first half before Alexis Sanchez's goal three minutes after the interval sparked the match into life. Goals two and three for Messi on 51 and 81 minutes respectively gave the reigning Liga champions a four goal advantage, before Rondon pounced to give the flustered home side a consolation five minutes from time.

Messi is like César | FC Barcelona
The Argentinian genius showed his quality in Málaga tonight and he equalled another record: at the Rosaleda he scored his 15th hat-trick as a Barça players -his fifth this season- to close out the first half of La Liga, in which he scored 22 goals. He’s equalled the historic record set be César, who also scored 22 goals in the first half of the 1950/51 season.

Piqué: "We needed a game like this" | FC Barcelona
The members of the Barça squad are pleased with the team's performance tonight at La Rosaleda. Gerard Piqué attributed his team’s victory to the "persistence shown until the last minute." According to the Catalan, the team "had the rhythm and the ball possession throughout the whole game, it’s easier to win that way."

Guardiola: "The line between winning and losing is very thin, tonight is a good example of that" | FC Barcelona
After the clear victory over Málaga by 1-4, Josep Guardiola talked about a play in the first quarter of the game at La Rosaleda to illustrate the point that "the line between winning and losing is very thin, today is a clear example." The Barça manager lauded Víctor Valdés: "if Víctor hadn’t cleared the corner or saved a goal-scoring chance on two occasions, I don’t know what would have happened."

Barcelona vice president Javier Faus expecting Pep Guardiola decision soon - Goal.com
The Barcelona coach's contract expires at the end of the season, fuelling speculation that the 41-year-old's four-year tenure at the club could be over this summer. However, Faus is expecting the situation to be resolved soon, and once again voiced the club's hope that Guardiola stays with his current employers.

Real see off 10-man Bilbao - Yahoo! Eurosport
The visitors took a surprise lead in the 13th minute when Fernando Llorente volleyed past Iker Casillas at the far post. Marcelo equalised for Real with a splendid finish before two second-half penalties from Cristiano Ronaldo and a late Jose Maria Callejon strike saw off a spirited Bilbao side, who had Oscar De Marcos sent-off.

Mourinho ignores whistling fans - Yahoo! Eurosport
Jose Mourinho refused to answer questions about a reported rift in the Real Madrid dressing room and said he was not affected by whistling directed at him by some Real fans during Sunday's 4-1 home win against Athletic Bilbao.

Iker Casillas: No Spanish - Portuguese rift at Real Madrid - ESPN Soccernet
There were also reports last week that Casillas and Sergio Ramos had a changing room bust-up with their manager after the Copa del Rey loss at home to Barcelona. However, Spain's World Cup-winning captain says that all is harmonious at the Bernabeu, labelling claims to the contrary "absurd".

Real Madrid won't punish Pepe for Lionel Messi stamp - ESPN Soccernet
Real Madrid will not punish defender Pepe for his apparent stamp on Barcelona's Lionel Messi during a typically fiery meeting between the two sides in the Copa del Rey in midweek.

'Pepe is a good kid,' - Real Madrid director Emilio Butragueno defends Pepe - Goal.com
The Portuguese defender was widely criticised for his boisterous performance in Wednesday's Clasico, which featured a stamp on Barcelona's Lionel Messi. However, Butragueno has stated that Pepe is not a bad person, and has been targeted due to his athletic ability. "Pepe is a nice guy and very passionate. He has suffered because he's a good athlete," Butragueno said according to Sport.

Babá on board at Sevilla | LFP
Sevilla confirmed on Sunday that they have signed striker Babá Diawara from Portuguese outfit, Maritimo. The 24-year-old Senegalese forward, who has scored 15 goals in 22 outings this term, 10 of them in the Super League, joins Marcelino’s attacking frontline of Negredo and Kanouté. The deal means that Babá will remain with the Andalucians until 30th June 2016. His buy-out clause has been set at 30 million euros.

Granada sack coach Fabriciano Gonzalez - ESPN Soccernet
"After a meeting held this afternoon between our sporting director, Juan Carlos Cordero, and the coach of the first team, Fabrician Gonzalez, it was decided to relieve him of his duties, with this being a painful decision for the board members of the club," the club confirmed via a statement on their official website.