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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Lionel Messi scored a hat trick to help Barcelona keep their title hopes alive with a 4-3 victory over Real Madrid.

In an action-packed match that lived up to its pre-match hype, Sergio Ramos was sent off for taking out Neymar in the Real penalty box.

Atletico beat Betis

Earlier, Atletico Madrid beat 10-man Real Betis 2-0 which now sees them go top of La Liga (following Real's loss).

Gabi Fernandez opened the scoring in what had been a hard fought contest until Bryan Rodriguez was shown a second yellow card for blatantly swiping at the ball with his hand in the 55th minute.

Gabi was afforded space about 10 metres outside the area to smash a swerving drive beyond outstretched goalkeeper Antonio Adan for the 58th-minute lead.

Diego Costa made it 2-0 in the 64th after Koke headed on to the Spain striker to fire home his 23rd league goal and 31st in all competitions.

"We showed great calm knowing we only need to depend on ourselves in the title race, regardless of (other) results," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.

While Atletico's season-long surge sees no signs of dipping with nine rounds left, last-placed Betis is running out of time to avoid relegation after falling nine points from safety.

Elsewhere, Sevilla continued its late bid to qualify for next season's Champions League by beating Osasuna 2-1 for a fifth straight victory.

Villarreal's own aspirations to go from promotion to qualifying for Europe's top-tier event took a hit after it lost 2-1 at Valencia.

*Agencies