Messi, in outstanding form for reigning Spanish and European champions with successive La Liga hat-tricks, boosted his earnings through bonuses as Barcelona did the treble last year under Pep Guardiola.

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What they want is to clap along to the big cheesy numbers, Jump In My Car, Leave Your Hat On (which persuades a young Spanish fan on to the stage to sit on his knee) and Do The Limbo (which sees about 50 members of the audience up on stage doing the limbo).

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Though a later Bemelmans book, "Madeline and the Bad Hat, " suggests the girls live next door to the Spanish ambassador in the eighth arrondissement, none of the buildings near there suited.

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