The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Milestone for Messi gives Barcelona vital win
Lionel Messi scored his 500th Barcelona goal as his stoppagetime winner against 10-man Real Madrid breathed life into his side’s title challenge.
Messi – sporting a black eye and damaged teeth following Marcelo’s first-half challenge – struck twice in a dramatic 3-2 win to take Barcelona to the top of LaLiga.
Ivan Rakitic was also on target for Barcelona, while Casemiro and James Rodriguez – the Colombian having equalised in the 85th minute – scored for hosts Real, who had captain Sergio Ramos sent off in the final quarter.
Ramos received an El Clasico red card for the second successive season 13 minutes from time after leaving the ground recklessly.
Messi was fortunate that the Spaniard’s two-footed challenge did not make contact with him and that he avoided serious injury.
Barcelona go top because they have a better head-tohead record than Real, but Zinedine Zidane’s team have a game in hand with six matches left to play.
This was a thrilling spectacle from start to finish, but one man stood tall on a dramatic night.
Messi’s double took his goals in this fixture to 22 and set a new El Clasico LaLiga record of 16, eclipsing the mark of former Real great Alfredo Di Stefano.
But Messi kept his best for the final seconds, sweeping home Jordi Alba’s cross into the corner of the net as the clock ticked into the second minute of stoppage time.