Real Madrid 2-6 FC Barcelona: Messi & Co Send Out Message to Chelsea

In yet another highly charged El Clasico encounter, FC Barcelona all but secured the Primera División title with a stunning 6-2 win over title rivals Real Madrid.

Goals from Lionel Messi and ex-Arsenal striker Thierry Henry, who both scored twice, as well as goals from centre-back duo Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique helped secure a memorable victory at the Santiago Bernabeu.

For the hosts, a 19th goal of the season for Gonzalo Higuain initially put Real ahead, and in the second half centre-back Sergio Ramos' goal made the scores 2-3, until of course Henry and Messi stormed the visitors well ahead.

In some ways, you could say the world famous clash in Spain's capital was akin to the other major sporting event going on in the world that Saturday night.

Over the pond in Las Vegas, the whole of the boxing world was tuned in as Manny 'Pac Man' Pacquiao took on Ricky 'The Hitman' Hatton for the IBO Light Welterweight title.

Put it this way, Hatton was Real Madrid and Pacquiao was FC Barcelona. Manny Pacquiao won the fight within just two rounds, unleashing a right-left combo to K.O 'The Hitman'.

Ricky Hatton was knocked out cold by officially the best 'pound-for-pound' fighter in the world today, Manny Pacquiao.

Real Madrid, in their own backyard, were knocked out cold by arguably the best 'league-for-league' team in the world, FC Barcelona.

The whole of the English media are saying "watch-out Barca, Chelsea are about", after the Blues convincingly beat Fulham 3-1 at home in the Premier League.

Many fans have seen the result from this match as almost the perfect warm-up to the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg clash on Wednesday, where Chelsea entertain FC Barcelona at Stamford Bridge after securing a deserved 0-0 draw at the Nou Camp in the first leg.

Slick passing play, fantastic teammate and positioning awareness, and just downright exhibition football at times from Chelsea have meant that, despite temporary manager Guus Hiddink still not being entirely happy, the Blues undeniably look well-placed to have a real chance of winning in their UCL semi-final and FA Cup Final this season.

However, the worrying thing for Chelsea is that just a few hours later on Saturday, their rather convincing warm-up was almost neutralised by FC Barcelona, whose clever movement, superb creativity, fantastic skill, clinical finishing and just pure dominance over a far more prestigious opponent than Chelsea's, in their opponent's own stadium, has simply stunned the footballing world.

We all knew Barca were the team to beat this year with their superb all-round play, but to produce a result like that against such a high-ranked team who weren't even that poor is just incredible.

Just when you think Manny Pacquiao can't get any better, he does.

Just when you think Chelsea have done enough to prove their worth against the Catalan giants, they haven't.

And just when you think FC Barcelona simply can't reach that level of performance, they reach it.

The fact that Barca's sixth goal against Real, although scored by centre-back Pique, was their 100th league goal of the season, just goes to show the attacking threat that FC Barcelona pose.

In La Liga this season, the forward line of Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, and Samuel Eto'o have between them a total of 65 goals this season.

In the Premier League, Manchester United and Portugal ace Cristiano Ronaldo is the league's top scorer with 17 goals.

He's on a par with Thierry Henry, the man who has scored the least out of the Barcelona's front three, and is only seventh in the La Liga scoring charts this season.

The top Chelsea scorer Nicolas Anelka, has 15 Premier League goals to his name this season. That's 12 less goals than compared to Barca striker Samuel Eto'o, with the Cameroonian topping La Liga scoring charts with 27 goals this season.

So perhaps it's clear that with FC Barcelona in the scintillating form that they're in, if a 6-2 annihilation of Real Madrid away from home is anything to go by, Chelsea might have to produce more than just a stunning defensive display, as shown at the Nou Camp.

They may have warmed up well for the Champions League semifinal by teaching Fulham a quick lesson in how to play football, but for the visit of Barca, if they don't up the stakes, they themselves could well be taught a lesson in how to not become the football version of Ricky Hatton.

At the moment, for Los Culés (nickname for FC Barcelona supporters) all that really matters is making sure those Madridistas down south know one thing; there is only one thing separating the good from the great. Siete puntos.

But for the Spanish media, it's something more significant. It's that message telling their English counterparts: "Watch out, Barca are about."

Ricky Hatton never watched out, and we all saw the outcome.

Real Madrid never watched out, and I don't think we'll ever forget what happened there that night.

And if Chelsea don't watch out on Wednesday, no Blues fan will probably ever want to remember what happened that night ever again.