Messi leads 10-man Barca to draw in El Clasico

Mar 11, 2007, 16:40 GMT

Barcelona, Spain - Lionel Messi was the hero on Saturday when he scored a hat-trick, including the injury time equalizer against Real Madrid at Camp Nou, leading to a 3-3 draw for 10-man Barcelona in a match that lived up to its name - El Clasico.

Real led three times in the game, with Messi answering three times. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored two goals in the first 14 minutes and Sergio Ramos added another in the 73rd for Real, but Messi's hat-trick ensured both teams would earn a point.

The draw was made even more improbable by the fact that Barcelona played the whole second half down a man.

Both teams came into the match looking to rebound from disappointing exits in the UEFA Champions League and it showed from the barrage of action early on.

Van Nistelrooy got the game's first goal after just five minutes when he pounced on a loose ball and fired it behind Barca 'keeper Victor Valdes.

Messi answered just five minutes later when he split the defense and fired past Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas to make it 1-1.

Barcelona had little chance to celebrate the equalizer, however, as Van Nistelrooy answered almost immediately to heat up the frantic start to the fixture.

Messi was able to get the first-half equalizer just 15 minutes later after stars Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o combined on a give-and-go forcing Casillas to make an outstanding save. He was defenseless on the rebound, however, which Messi slammed into the back of the net to even the score at two.

The game slowed considerably for the rest of the half until the home side's Oleguer was given his second yellow of the game in stoppage time, meaning Barcelona would be down a man the entire second half.

Barca manager Frank Rijkaard sacrificed the attack and substituted Eto'o for a defender in the second half. The strategy seemed to work until Ramos put Real ahead with less than 20 minutes to play. The goal came off a free kick, which Ramos flicked into the net.

Barcelona looked dead in the water until Messi's dramatic stoppage time equalizer. He beat three defenders in the box before firing a left-footed shot into the net.

With the draw, Barcelona move back into the top spot in La Liga with 50 points, same as idle Sevilla, with a greater goal differential being the tiebreaker. Real's point insures it will hold at least a share of the fourth position after the weekend fixtures by giving it a three-point lead on fifth-placed Real Zaragoza. Sevilla and Zaragoza play Tarragona and Real Betis, respectively, Sunday.

In the other La Liga match on Saturday, Villarreal moved into 11th place with a 2-0 win over Levante. A first half goal by Diego Forlan and a second half tally by Jon Dahl Tomasson was the difference in the game.

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