Barcelona boss Tata Martino has urged his players to keep on enjoying themselves as they head into Tuesday's Champions League trip to Manchester City on a high following a brilliant dismantling of Rayo Vallecano at the Nou Camp.

Martino’s men soared back to the top of La Liga with a comprehensive 6-0 win, with Lionel Messi scoring twice and fellow frontmen Pedro and Alexis Sanchez also getting on target. along with full back Adriano and Brazilian ace Neymar, who marked his return from injury with a sublime long-range strike in the final stages.

It was easily Barca’s best performance of the season and allows the Catalan club to be bold about their chances of success against the Premier League side. 

There was an exuberant spirit to Barca’s display on Saturday, in stark contrast to some of their more restrained, careful approaches on many other occasions this season, and Martino believes it’s important for his players to carry on expressing themselves.

“We play better when we have fun and on Saturday we entertained a lot of people,” said Martino. “Scoring in the second minute of a match gives you tranquillity and makes you play differently.”

Although Martino attempts to keep an even temperament in good and bad times alike, he admitted that his team could have barely hoped for a better preparation for tomorrow’s trip to City.

“When we lose or draw I try not to get too upset, or too excited when we win. But of course, if I had a choice I would pick a match like this one ahead of our game against City.

We’re in good form and this is the perfect moment to try to qualify for the quarter-finals. Everyone is playing really well.”

One of Barca’s outstanding performances came from Lionel Messi, whose two goals allowed him to move ahead of Alfredo Di Stefano and level with another Real Madrid legend, Raul, in the all-time La Liga goalscoring charts.

Pointing out that Messi still has plenty more years ahead of him, Martino made the safe prediction that his fellow Argentine will continue to set records tumbling, saying: “In the end he’ll lose count.

“I’d like to think that Messi still has a bit to go before he’s 100 per cent fit. If he wants, he’ll break any record he sets his mind to – he’s only 26 years old.”