Lionel Messi featured in the second half as a substitute in a game which saw Barcelona eventually overcome a resilient Mallorca side by a goal to nil.

Mallorca, one of La Liga's best performing sides this year, proved stubborn defensively and also dangerous in attack as they caused Barcelona problems all night.

Barcelona, ahead of Wednesday's crucial Champions League game against Arsenal, rested several players, the likes of Xavi and Lionel Messi starting from the bench.

The deadlock was broken in the 63rd minute. Xavi, who came on alongside Messi for the second half, whipped in a dangerous corner which was stabbed towards goal by Puyol. His effort was saved, but Ibrahimovic was at the far post to rifle home the rebound.

It was a decent half from Messi who showed some nice touches, but certainly not one of his most memorable games. It was another important three points for Barcelona who now return to the top of La Liga until Real Madrid battle Atletico Madrid in tomorrow's derby.

Barcelona claimed another three points in La Liga but left it late following a great defensive performance from the visitors. 

Lionel Messi's touch throughout the game was as good as ever, but he was well marked throughout the game and could not make the same impact as he has in recent games. One memorable Messi incident came in the second half. Messi picked up the ball from outside the box, skipped past a few challenges and unleashed a curling shot that hit the outside of the post. That was the closest Messi came to scoring.

The deadlock was not broken for the home side until the 73rd minute. Maxwell made a great run outside of Iniesta. Iniesta's pass was precise and Maxwell's cross was met at the far post by Zlatan Ibrahimovic to put Barcelona one up.

Another great ball into the center lead to a goal from substitute Bojan Krkic in the 89th minute, giving Barcelona a hard-fought but deserved three points.

Lionel Messi's efforts of late have commanded huge praise from all quarters, scoring an incredible 11 goals in just 5 games.

Messi has now scored a whopping 25 league goals and is the top La Liga scorer by some distance ahead of Gonzalo Higuain with 20. Messi has 34 goals in all competitions.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta made some big claims after today's game with Zaragoza. Speaking to Canal Plus, Laporta stated, "He's the best player in the world and the history of football. Along with [Johan] Cruyff and [Diego] Maradona he is the best we've seen in Barcelona.

"He's played a great match, he is a football genius and he plays for the team. He is the leader of Barcelona. Also he thinks about his team-mates after he handed the penalty to [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic to score."

Messi's teammates were equally forthcoming in their prace of the world's best player.

Dani Alves said of Messi, "Of course he can be compared with [Diego] Maradona and can be better than him. If he continues with this humility he can become better."

Compatriot Gabriel Milito stated, "Leo has excelled once again. He does things that surprise us all. He has the quality to make the difficult easy."

Summer signing Maxwell echoed the sentiments, "Luckily he is playing with us, because he is unstoppable. The team is playing very well and we're all happy."

Lionel Messi spoke to reporters from Canal Plus at the end of today's game against Zaragoza after scoring another sublime hat-trick. Messi was his usual humble self, underlining the importance of the team, not just himself as an individual.

Messi stated, "It was an important game. It was difficult, especially in the first half. They played a very tough brand of football but we carried on to win the three points, which were very important.

"We went to the front, we went for the game. The pitch wasn't good, the ball didn't move well but we won, that's what counts.

"I always said that this is a matter of all of us, the team did a great job, we fought all the time and luckily I score goals, but we all make it happen."

Speaking about teammate Zlatan, Messi said, "A striker needs to score goals and luckily was able to break this streak."