Lionel Messi torments Madrid as Barcelona breathe life in La Liga race yesterday

Lionel Messi settled El Clasico in incredible style with a late, late winner against Real Madrid.

Lionel Messi delivered a sensational display to hand Barcelona a 3-2 win against Real Madrid on Sunday, in one of the most entertainingClasicos in years.

Real Madrid were three points ahead of their rivals atop La Liga with one game in hand, but Zinedine Zidane still wheeled out his big guns in an attacking 4-3-3, and was rewarded when Casemiro hit the opener.

But Barca had Messi who, in Neymar's absence, was handed a free role behind the strikers in a 4-3-1-2. The Argentine terrorised Madrid, drawing fouls and bookings, overloading the central midfield area and netting a superb equaliser for 1-1.

In a frenetic second half, both teams pressed high and vacated huge gaps as full-backs flew forward untracked. That helped Ivan Rakitic make it 2-1 before Sergio Ramos got sent off for a lunge on Messi, only for James Rodriguez to pull Madrid level late on.

That seemed to have secured a crucial point for Madrid, but then their pressing backfired as Messi crowned his night with a late winner.

Carvajal troubles Alcacer

Both managers had big calls to make before kick-off. Zidane started the doubtful Gareth Bale, while Luis Enrique -- who had Neymar suspended -- made Barca defend in 4-4-2, with striker Paco Alcacer playing as a left winger before joining Luis Suarez up front in a 4-3-1-2 on the ball.

While that seemed to hand Madrid a numerical advantage in midfield, the more interesting aspect centred on their forward trio. Rather than sticking to positions, Bale started on the left then switched to the right, while Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema alternated between drifting wide and waiting in the centre. Full-backs Marcelo and Dani Carvajal also stormed forward.

Their best weapon early on was Carvajal, who troubled Alcacer. On two minutes, the right-back smashed in a volleyed cross to Ronaldo, whose penalty shout got turned down. Another two minutes on, Carvajal played a one-two past Alcacer to chip in a cross that was cleared.

Madrid also hit Barca on the break. Ronaldo cut inside to test Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Benzema missed a chance and Bale squandered a fine Toni Kroos pass. Then Carvajal popped up again to find Ronaldo, who won the corner from which Casemiro struck.

That denoted how Carvajal played a more advanced role in the first half than Marcelo, who faced the more disciplined Ivan Rakitic.