Messi sets new record with hat trick in victory

AP - BARCELONA, SPAIN – Lionel Messi scored a hat trick to emphatically break the Spanish League’s all-time scoring mark in Barcelona’s 5-1 win over Sevilla on Saturday.

Messi, already Barcelona’s all-time scorer, surpassed Athletic Bilbao great Telmo Zarra’s milestone of 251 goals that had stood untouched since 1955.
Messi equaled Zarra’s mark in the 21st minute and added goals in the 72nd and 78th to claim the record for himself.
“I have never seen a player like Leo,” Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said. “He is beyond comparison, one of a kind, never to be seen again. We are lucky to have him here, to enjoy him, and to see where he leaves this record.”
Messi’s record-setting effort eclipsed rival Cristiano Ronaldo becoming the first player to reach 20 goals in the first 12 rounds of a season after he scored twice to keep Real Madrid at the top of the table with a 4-0 win at Eibar.
Madrid leads Barcelona by two points with Atletico Madrid four points adrift after the defending champion beat 10-man Malaga 3-1 at home.
Also, former Manchester United coach David Moyes debuted as Real Sociedad’s new manager with a 0-0 draw at Deportivo La Coruna. Both sides were left one point above the relegation zone.

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Lewis Hamilton wins second F1 championship with victory at Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton has been crowned motor racing's Formula One champion after winning the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It's Hamilton's second championship victory, having won in 2008.

Deutsche Welle - Lewis Hamilton's 11th win of the 19-race season secured the title and he joins British drivers Jim Clark and Graham Hill in the two-championship club; Jackie Stewart has three to his name.

Nico Rosberg, Hamilton's teammate and the season's runner-up, started on pole position, but lost that advantage right at the start of the race. Hamilton, beginning in second place, shot past the German to take the lead before the first turn.

The initial part of the race was a mirror of the entire Formula One season - with the two Mercedes drivers pulling away from the pack. Their respective pit stops did nothing to change the contest, with Hamilton leading Rosberg throughout.

Technical problems, however, spelled an end to the German's hopes of overtaking Hamilton on track. Around lap 25, Rosberg's electrical motor (ERS) failed leaving him with only a turbo and robbing him of horsepower. The German was powerless to stop dropping down into the pack. However, had Rosberg won Sunday's race with Hamilton second, the title would still have gone to the number 44 car.

Hamilton also appeared to suffer brief engine trouble, but his car recovered, and he was able to hold off Felipe Massa to take the checkered flag. Massa's Williams' teammate Valtteri Bottas finished third - the team's first double podium finish since 2005. Rosberg, who insited over team radio in the closing laps that he would rather finish the final race than pull in early, had to settle for a disappointing 14th.

Rosberg, whose relationship with Hamilton has not always been the best, was gracious in defeat.

"All in all, Lewis deserved to win the championship," the German said after the race. "What happened to me had no impact. It did not change anything so there is no point focusing on that."

Although Hamilton was able to cruise through the final race of the 2014, the Englishman said the pressure in the run-up had been intense.

"It's hard to soak all of this up. So much pressure," he told reporters after the race. "I didn't sleep last night. I went for a run and had a massage, I thought I would be tired, but somehow I felt composed for the race. This has been an incredible year. It feels very surreal, like an out-of-body experience, like it's not really happening."

With double points awarded in Abu Dhabi, the result meant that Hamilton wins his second Formula One drivers' title with 384 points. Rosberg finished second overall, ultimately more than fifty points behind Hamilton. Mercedes had wrapped up the constructors' title with several races to spare, in a dominant season for the British-built Silver Arrows.

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Davis Cup 2014: Roger Federer finishes the job to clinch Swiss triumph

Davis Cup: Federer masterclass sees Switzerland win the competition for the first time. 17-time grand slam winner beat Richard Gasquet to set up Swiss' 3-1 victory

It was the last major trophy missing from his collection, but after Roger Federer won the Davis Cup for Switzerland here on Sunday he insisted this was “one for the boys”. Having secured his country’s first victory in the 114-year history of the team competition by beating Richard Gasquet in straight sets, Federer hailed it as a triumph for his team rather than himself. “I’ve won enough in my career that I don’t need this to complete everything or to tick off a box,” he said.

Just a week after he pulled out of the final of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London with a back injury, Federer came through his third match in as many days without a hint of any physical problems to win 6-4, 6-2, 6-2. Gasquet had replaced the French No 1, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who aggravated an arm injury while losing to Stan Wawrinka on day one.

Federer, having suffered a heavy defeat by Gaël Monfils as the first day finished all square, helped put his team in the driving seat on Saturday when he partnered Wawrinka to victory in the doubles over Gasquet and Julien Benneteau. With the Swiss needing to win only one of the final day’s reverse singles, there was little doubt about the outcome once Federer had broken Gasquet in only the third game of the fourth rubber with a sublime half-volley winner followed by a magnificent forehand pass down the line.

It was hard not to feel sorry for Gasquet, whose nerve has sometimes failed him in the past, especially in front of his home supporters. The crowd in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, where the attendance of 27,448 broke the Davis Cup record for the second time in three days, did everything they could to lift their man, creating a wonderful atmosphere.

Everywhere you looked there were Tricolores and painted faces, while a group of enterprising supporters came dressed as the Four Musketeers, perhaps in the hope that the present team might be lifted by the spirit of René Lacoste, Henri Cochet, Jean Borotra and Jacques Brugnon, who won the Davis Cup six years in a row for France in the 1920s and 1930s.

Before the match there was an on-court parade of French Davis Cup champions of more recent vintage and once play started the crowd needed no invitation to whip themselves into a patriotic frenzy. In the early stages at least, regular chants of “Allez, Richard!” and occasional renditions of “La Marseillaise” even managed to drown out the noise of the hundreds of cowbells which the Swiss had brought into the stadium.

However, if Federer suffered occasional lapses, he was still far too good for Gasquet, who did not force a single break point. Federer struck 62 winners to Gasquet’s 39 and hit some stunning drop shots in particular. He saved the best of them for last, feathering the ball over the net and out of Gasquet’s reach on match point before falling to his knees and lying face down on the clay, his eyes filling with tears.

It was quite a turnaround after the week had begun with the Swiss in a mini-crisis as Federer, having fallen out with Wawrinka after heckling by the former’s wife during their match at the World Tour Finals nine days ago, faced a race against time to recover from his back injury. Federer had felt at the start of the week that there was “no way” he would be fit to play three matches in three days here.

Last weekend’s confrontation was put aside as Federer thanked Wawrinka “for the effort he’s put in this weekend to build me back up” and for “just keeping me alive”. Wawrinka, who admitted that he was already drunk by the time of the post-match press conference, said simply: “Roger, I still love you.”

Paul Newman / Independent.co.uk

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