Lionel Messi's 500th Barcelona Goal Earns El Clasico Win vs. Real Madrid

Lionel Messi sensationally scored his 500th goal for Barcelona in stoppage time to beat Real Madrid 3-2 in El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday night.

Messi scored the winner when Real were down to 10 men after Sergio Ramos was shown a red card late in the second half. Barca were 2-1 ahead at the time after goals by Messi and Ivan Rakitic had cancelled out Casemiro's opener for Real, who also lost Gareth Bale to injury, after an ankle problem forced the Welsh forward off late in the first half, per Aaron Flanagan of the Sunday Mirror.

OptaJose lauded Messi's landmark:

Messi's brace put Barcelona level on points with Real at the top of the table, although Los Merengues still have a game in hand. Barca are temporarily first, though, thanks to their superior goal differential.

Each side turned to their star-studded forward line to lead the way, per La Liga's Twitter account:

Despite the star power on both teams, the match was a one-sided affair early on, with Real bossing proceedings. During their initial dominance, Cristiano Ronaldo went over under a challenge from Barca centre-back Samuel Umtiti in the box that should have resulted in a penalty for the home side.

Undeterred, Ronaldo soon drew Marc-Andre ter Stegen into a fine save down low. Ronaldo's sighter was one of many Los Blancos shots that peppered the Barca goal, per Squawka Football:

Real's proactive approach was rewarded when Casemiro put them in front after a flick on from Ramos found the Brazilian holding midfielder unmarked at the back post.

Barca appeared on the ropes as they struggled to come to grips with Real's physical tactics. In particular, goalscorer Casemiro left his mark on Messi, earning a yellow card for his efforts.

Messi was also left bloodied and bruised when he took an elbow from left-back Marcelo. However, not even a bandage protruding from his mouth could stop Messi from tormenting the Real defence to equalise.

Barca's magical No. 10 slalomed through the middle to slot calmly past Keylor Navas for a record-breaking goal in this storied rivalry, per Sky Sports Statto:

It was a brilliant effort by Messi, whose gliding run bamboozled more than one Real player:

The goal also meant the Blaugrana surpassed their old enemy:

Inexplicably, Messi missed a sitter on the stroke of half-time after Navas failed to claim a corner. Instead of turning the ball into the empty net, the prolific Argentinian lifted it wide of the post.

Still, Messi's impact was made clear by this statistic from WhoScored.com:

A flurry of chances came in the early stages of the second half, with Ter Stegen saving well from Toni Kroos and brilliantly denying Karim Benzema. At the other end, Navas saved from Paco Alcacer and was at his acrobatic best in turning away a thumping header from Gerard Pique.

Despite Barca's pressure, Real should have been back in front when substitute Marco Asensio teed up Ronaldo on the break. However, in a rare occurrence, Los Blancos' deadly No. 7 fired over.

Los Merengues were made to pay for the miss when Rakitic gave Barcelona the lead by curling a fierce left-footed shot past the otherwise excellent Navas.

The goal marked a first for Rakitic in this fixture:

Real's night soon got worse when Ramos was shown a straight red card for felling Messi as the mini marvel was about to break clear. Sky Sports La Liga relayed an image of the reckless challenge:

Barca's man advantage should have been made to count immediately, but Pique's shot on the turn was saved by the stubborn Navas after substitute Andre Gomes created the chance with some fine work.

Messi was the next to sting Navas' palms, as Barcelona sensed the moment was ripe to kill off the game. However, the momentum soon took another sudden shift.

It came when Zinedine Zidane brought on James, who promptly scored the equaliser by prodding in Marcelo's smart cross. Real might have won had Asensio's near-post drive not been turned away by Ter Stegen.

But Messi fittingly decided things by netting the winner in the 91st minute. He reacted brilliantly to Sergi Roberto's raiding run from deep to reach 500 goals for Barca.

Sky Sports Statto offered this excellent breakdown of Messi's phenomenal scoring run:

Post-Match Reaction

Zidane felt his team wasted too many chances to win this match, per ESPN's Dermot Corrigan:

Meanwhile, Barca players like goalscorer Rakitic simply lauded yet another star turn from Messi:

Playmaker Andres Iniesta was also delighted to wax lyrical about the difference his prolific team-mate makes:

Messi has settled yet another big game for Barca and single-handedly snatched the initiative back for his club in the title race.

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