FC Barcelona traveled to last place Real Zaragoza on Saturday without the services of Xavi Hernandez. The club was looking to remain in the top three of La Liga in what on paper looked to be an easy match.

Early on in the Pep Guardiola looked to hammer the Zaragoza defense playing both Dani Alves and Andres Iniesta in a more attacking position leaving Pique, Puyol and Abidal in the backfield.

Though they had many opportunities early on they looked to continue their recent form of not being able to find the back of the net. David Villa continued to look like he is at this point suffering from complete frustration as he had opportunities but just could not get his positioning right to get on the board.

With Villa unable to find the net on his own he was able to dish a beautiful pass to Lionel Messi late in the first half, giving the Argentine a one on one with the Zaragoza keeper beating him easily to give his side the advantage going into halftime.

As Barcelona took the pitch in the second half they looked to continue the offensive push that lead to the goal just before halftime. Two minutes into the second half Zaragoza gave them a big assist.

Unable to control his frustration Leonardo Ponzia took a swipe at Dani Alves in the 47th minute in plain sight of the referee leaving no choice but for him to shoe Pozio a straight red card.

With Barcelona now with a man advantage and a goal lead it looked like they were going to cruise to another road victory. Though Zaragoza did put up a valiant effort both Keita and Iniesta came very close to putting the match away.

Finally in the 66th minute Lionel Messi once again showed why he is the greatest player in the world as he scored his second on the day from the edge of the box.

David Villa came close to getting on the board as time was running out but his attempt hit the post. As time ran out Barcelona took the three points putting them just behind league leaders Real Madrid who easily handled Racing Santander off a four goal performance by Ronaldo.

Todays win for FC Barcelona is their fourth consecutive road win giving them their best start on the road in club history.

Things will not slow down for Pep Guardiola and his men with games this coming week on Tuesday as the Copa del Rey gets underway on the road against AD Cueta followed by their next league match on Saturday against Sevilla.

Full match highlights here