Barcelona aims for record unbeaten run

MADRID — Barcelona is looking to close out the first half of the Spanish league season on Sunday against Malaga by setting a club record of 28 games without a loss.

The Spanish champion's 5-0 Copa del Rey win over Real Betis on Wednesday allowed it to match its previous record of 27 games from the 1973-74 season.

Lionel Messi's eighth hat trick took his season total in all competitions to 31 goals in 27 games, two days after edging teammates Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez for his second straight FIFA player of the year award.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola cautioned his team about overconfidence going into the match at the Camp Nou stadium against last-place Malaga, which has made a number of January signings as it looks to distance itself from the relegation zone.

Barcelona, which has now scored five or more goals eight times this season, is going for a 13th straight league win, which would leave it two shy of matching another record.

"The best way to maintain our respect for opponents is to play the way we do from Minute 1. Some teams win 4 or 5-0 and start to do stupid things," Messi said Thursday. "There's still the second half of the season to go with a lot of difficult games — the match in Madrid — but the good thing is it will all depend on us."

Barcelona leads Real Madrid by two points after 18 matches. Madrid plays at Almeria on Sunday.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi will also use Sunday's games to maintain their pursuit of Hugo Sanchez's record 38 goals in a season. Ronaldo has 22, while Messi has 18 league goals.

Ronaldo has scored 12 in his last six matches to single-handedly lead Madrid, whose coach, Jose Mourinho, is keeping his fingers crossed that some transfer window reinforcements may still come despite the club saying that was unlikely.

Sports daily Marca has linked a number of strikers to the club, including Emmanuel Adebayor of Manchester City and Miroslav Klose of Bayern Munich.

Madrid has lost only once in the league this season — to Barcelona — and it knows every point counts up until the next one, at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in April.

Third-place Villarreal will be looking to recover its defensive stability after blowing leads in two successive games — in a 4-2 league loss to Madrid and then a 3-3 cup draw against Sevilla — when it plays Osasuna on Saturday.