MADRID, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Leo Messi scored twice as FC Barcelona avenged its exit from the Copa del Rey with a 4-0 thrashing of Sevilla in the Camp Nou Stadium.

    Barca had beaten Sevilla 1-0 away from home in midweek but went out of the Cup on away goals and Pep Guardiola's men were clearly in the mood for revenge.

    They dominated the first half but thanks to the brilliant performance of Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop, who had been vital in his side's Copa del Rey triumph, the Catalan's were unable to open the score.

    It needed a stroke of luck in the second half when Escude deflected Gerard Pique's close range shot into his own net to open the score, but from that moment there was no stopping Barca.

    Pedro Rodriguez added the second following a magnificent pass from Xavi Hernandez and Leo Messi scored the third from inside the penalty area with five minutes left.

    The goal was Messi's 100th for the club and in injury time he netted his 101st after a smart finish against Palop.

    The win was all the more sweeter because Real Madrid crashed toits third league defeat of the season in Athletic club Bilbao.

    90 minutes of intense football showed that sometimes money can't buy success against a side that has confidence in itself andthe loyal support of its supporters.

    Fernando Llorente scored the only goal of the game with a header from a corner two minutes into the game and after that Athletic's workrate, solid defense and excellent goalkeeper Gorka Irazoz were enough to stop Real Madrid equalizing.

    Referee Gonzalez Vazquez failed to give Athletic a clear penalty in the last minute and then added six minutes of injury time, but even that was not enough for Cristiano Ronaldo and company.

    Earlier in the night Osasuna beat Espanyol 2-0 to climb away from the relegation zone.

    The game was as good as over in eight minutes after goals in the seventh and eighth minutes from Juanfran and Walter Pandiani left Espanyol reeling.

    The win lifts Osasuna away from the danger zone, but leaves Espanyol too close to the relegation zone for comfort.