LIONEL MESSI has more records than your local’s Friday night DJ, but his latest one is somewhat unwanted.

The Barcelona superstar created three and grabbed a goal for himself as the La Liga strengthened their position at the top of the table with a 6-0 thumping of Getafe on Saturday.

The Argentine superstar missed out, however, on a brace after missing his fourth penalty of the season.

Despite their penalty woes, Messi and his team-mates are on a record run of 37 matches without defeat in all competitions and the weekend’s victory matched their own feat of 12 successive wins which they set in the 2012/13 campaign.

They welcome Arsenal to the Nou Camp on Wednesday for the second-leg of their last-16 Champions League tie holding a two-goal advantage.

For 20 years, Irish-American Emmaia Gelman has been on the sidelines of New York's storied St. Patrick's Day Parade every March, protesting instead of participating.

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But on Thursday, Gelman will finally march up Fifth Avenue. A year after a limited easing of the parade's prohibition on gay groups, organizers now have opened the lineup more broadly to include activists who protested the ban for years.

"This is a massive victory," says Gelman, 41, who was repeatedly arrested at parade protests and met her longtime partner at one.

The change stands to close a long chapter of controversy at the largest and oldest U.S. celebration of Irish heritage, which will be broadcast live in Ireland and the United Kingdom for the first time.

Besides marking firsts, this year's parade also looks back, honoring the centennial of Ireland's Easter Rising against British rule.

Organizers aim to invoke "the lessons of sacrifice and heroism, of love and tolerance, embodied in the Irish spirit," parade board chairman John Lahey said when the plans were announced.

Tracing its history to 1762, the parade features about 200,000 marchers.

For years, organizers said gay people could participate but couldn't carry signs or buttons celebrating their sexual identities. Organizers said they didn't want to divert focus from honoring Irish heritage.

Irish gay advocates sued in the early 1990s, but judges said the parade organizers had a First Amendment right to choose participants in their event.

Over the years, activists protested along the route, and some politicians boycotted. The pressure grew in 2014, when Mayor Bill de Blasio refused to march, and Guinness and Heineken withdrew their sponsorships.

The sponsorships resumed when parade organizers opened a door to gay groups last year, allowing a contingent from parade sponsor NBCUniversal. But critics saw the gesture as tokenism.

Meanwhile, Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade ended a ban on gay groups that organizers had successfully defended at the Supreme Court. In the ensuing months, gay marriage became legal throughout the U.S. and Ireland.

Against that backdrop, New York St. Patrick's Day Parade organizers said they'd add a second gay group this year to the parade ranks: the Lavender & Green Alliance, which had long protested the gay-group ban.

Some longtime parade participants have balked at the arrival of gay delegations.

"It's contemptible," said Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, who stopped marching last year.

But de Blasio, a Democrat, is joining the parade Thursday because of its new inclusiveness. So is Gelman, an American studies doctoral student, great-granddaughter of Irish immigrants and a member of Irish Queers, a group that will march with the Lavender & Green Alliance.

She'll be there with her partner, whose birthday is St. Patrick's Day.

Bill Haas watched his tee shot on the 17th hole during the third round of the Valspar Championship on Saturday.

PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Bill Haas was looking for a spark and knew just where to find it.

He called his dad.

Jay Haas is a nine-time PGA Tour and two-time Presidents Cup captain, and the only person Bill Haas trusts when it comes to golf. So he asked his father to come down to the Valspar Championship earlier in the week, hopeful "he would have the magical touch."

It appears to be working.

Haas worked his way through the wind on another tough day and chipped in for birdie one the par-3 15th hole on his way to a 4-under 67, giving him a one-shot lead over Graham DeLaet of Canada going into the final round at Innisbrook.

It was one shot on the fifth hole of a practice round Tuesday. Jay Haas suggested that his son use an abbreviated follow on his swing so that it would force him to get his hands through the ball quicker and avoid shots that were leaking to the right.

"He came up with the swing thought I've had for three days, and I'm leading," Haas said. "Without him coming down, I might not even have made the weekend. It was very valuable."

And if it doesn't hold up on Sunday?

"If it goes south, I can blame him," Haas said with a laugh.

Haas was at 8-under 205

DeLaet, now sporting a beard that would make Old Tom Morris proud, pounded a 3-wood out of the rough and over the water to 3 feet on the par-5 14th for an eagle that shot him up the leaderboard, and he finished with a 68 to get into the last group.

Haas is as honest as any golfer at the highest level. He realizes he can play a solid round Sunday and it might not be enough because of the players behind him — that includes defending champion Jordan Spieth — and the nature of the Copperhead course. This is the first stop on the Florida swing where no one has shot better than 66.

DeLaet, still looking for his first PGA Tour victory, sounds more determined than ever. This is a great chance to win. He wants to grab it.

"Every time in this position I kind of say the politically correct things," he said. "I'm going to go and win this golf tournament tomorrow. That's my plan."

It's still up in the grabs on Sunday because of Innisbrook, which takes shots away more often than it gives up birdies. Six players were within four shots of the lead, and even Spieth believes he is still in the mix.

Spieth, who opened his title defense with a 76, made the cut with one shot to spare on Friday and moved into a tie for ninth on Saturday with a bogey-free 67 in which he holed a long eagle putt and made a pair of key par saves coming in.

"To think after the first round that I go Saturday night be able to sleep with a chance to win the golf tournament, I'm very pleased with that," Spieth said.

Charley Hoffman (67) and Ryan Moore (69) were three shots behind.

Charles Howell III had a 70 and was four shots behind, though still has a reasonable chance to win and earn a return to the Masters, which motivates the Augusta, Georgia, native this time of the year. He was amazed to still be this close to the lead.

"This course continues to surprise me in that it just doesn't give up good scores," Howell said. "What am I? Tied for fifth? I would have thought the lead would be 10 or 12 under, and more than one guy there. But maybe that's just me getting my head beat in."

In the group with Spieth was Lee McCoy, the Georgia senior who ran off five straight birdies around the turn and was headed for a rare low score at Innisbrook until he put his tee shot in the water on the 16th and took double bogey. He still shot a 66 and was six shots behind, and he gets to play the final round with Spieth.

McCoy knows the course better than anyone. He grew up near Innisbrook, describing his house as a par 5 away from the course. He played Saturday with Gary Woodland, and McCoy told him that he was in the gallery when Woodland won five years ago.

They will be chasing Haas, who is coming off a big moment in his career last October when he won the decisive point in the Presidents Cup with his father as captain. It hasn't carried over, at least not yet. Haas has a pair of top 10s this year, though he has not seriously contended.

"Half of it is these guys are really good," Haas said. "I'm trying to beat some really good players and they're beating me right now. I just haven't been sharp. When the Presidents Cup was won, being in the last match and handling some pressure, that was a great stepping stone for me. Hopefully, it will lead to better things. But I've still got to play well tomorrow."

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino says the seriousness with which he is taking Aston Villa on Sunday affected his team selection against Borussia Dortmund.

Pochettino fell under criticism from some supporters for resting key players as Spurs were smashed 3-0 by the Bundesliga side in Thursday's Europa League last-16 first leg.

Tottenham, chasing a first league title since 1961, travel to Villa Park on Sunday with their opponents bottom of the Premier League and staring relegation in the face after a dismal season.

But Pochettino said: "We need to show respect to Aston Villa. We are wrong if we do not.

"The players are not machines. We come from a very busy period and we play a lot in different circumstances.

"They are a proud team and if they have a chance to survive in the Premier League. We need to put this idea in the mind of the players."

Spurs are five points short of league-leaders Leicester after missing the chance to move top themselves by taking just one point from a possible six against West Ham and Arsenal last week.

Pochettino questioned whether the Villa game is now crucial, stating "crucial was last season when we were 14th in November", but said: "Sunday is important.

"We have been on a good run. There is no doubt about the team. Sometimes you expect you cannot always perform the same. Football is difficult.

"I am happy with team and now we need to lift the players because it was a big hit for us (against Dortmund).

"We need to finish strongly. If not maybe we have a problem but always you try to fight. The whole season has been good."