Lionel Messi scored his 61st goal of the season to help Barcelona beat Getafe 4-0 Tuesday and provisionally trim Real Madrid's Spanish league lead to a single point. Alexis Sanchez scored in each half while Pedro Rodriguez also netted as the three-time defending champion earned its 10th straight league win to increase the pressure on Madrid, which can restore its four-point lead by beating Atletico Madrid Wednesday. Messi took his league-best tally to 39 goals, leaving him one shy of matching Cristiano Ronaldo's record 40 in a season. With Barcelona having at least nine games left to play this season, he has a realistic shot at reaching 70 in all competitions. “He's capable of getting there, but I don't know if he will,” Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said. “He scored a great goal that allowed us to play with calm.” Sanchez curled home a 13th-minute opener at the Camp Nou before Messi added another dazzling strike to his resume against Getafe, a team that has been the victim of some of his most memorable goals — including a solo run in 2007 often compared to countryman Diego Maradona's goal against England in the 1986 World Cup. This time, Messi ran on to Andres Iniesta's subtle backheel pass and sent a rising shot into the top corner in the 44th minute. Messi's goal capped a first half dominated by the host, which looked in danger of letting its good play go to waste as it failed to convert a number of opportunities. Iniesta was also involved in the opener as he looped a pass inside toward Messi, who chested it down onto the foot of Sanchez. The Chile striker cut inside to find space before curling a shot out of Miguel Angel Moya's reach. Sanchez saw Moya tip a similar chance around the post three minutes later, while Cata Diaz cleared Xavi Hernandez's chip off the goal line a minute later and Messi headed the clearance over. Although the European champion was without injured defenders Gerard Pique and Daniel Alves, it still held Getafe — which beat the Catalans in Madrid earlier this year — without a single shot on goal. Barcelona cruised through much of the second half before a pair of goals inside three minutes put the game away. Sanchez headed home Cuenca's cross into the area in the 73rd before Pedro sent Messi's cross over Moya in the 75th with his back to goal. “We did the job we had to,” Guardiola said. Atletico will be desperate to end a 13-year winless run against Madrid after sixth-place Osasuna beat nine-man Espanyol 2-0 to move four points clear into the final Europa League spot. Also Tuesday, Ruben Castro's 13th goal of the season canceled out Carlos Vela's 56th-minute strike as Real Betis rallied for a 1-1 draw at Real Sociedad. Moenchengladbach holds Bremen In Germany, Werder Bremen battled with 10 men to earn a 2-2 draw at home against Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Bundesliga Tuesday, while Cologne lost 4-0 at Mainz to worsen its hopes of avoiding relegation. In other matches, surging Stuttgart won 3-1 at Augsburg and Freiburg beat Hertha Berlin 2-1 to all but make sure of remaining in the top flight while leaving Berlin virtually doomed. Lyon in France final Lyon overcame a spirited performance from Gazelec Ajaccio to win 4-0 and reach the French Cup final Tuesday, with all the goals coming in the second half when the semiprofessional side was down to 10 men. Lyon is in fourth place in the first division, but struggled at times against a team two divisions below in the National league and playing with 10 men after midfielder Anthony Colinet was sent off late in the first half.
