Barcelona 3 - 3 Real Madrid
Lionel Messi (11)
Lionel Messi (28 )
Lionel Messi (90)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (5)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (pen 13)
Garcia Sergio Ramos (73)
BARCELONA, March 10 (Primera Liga) - Barcelona and Real Madrid drew 3-3 at the Nou Camp on Saturday in a pulsating latest edition of Spain's `el clasico' match.
Real led three times after two early goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and a third from Sergio Ramos, but were pegged back by a brilliant Lionel Messi hat-trick, as the teams grabbed a point apiece in the 26th round of the Primera Liga.
Barca played the whole second half with 10 men after Oleguer Presas was sent off just before the break.
Both teams came into the derby match under intense pressure after being disappointingly knocked out of the Champions League this week.
Real lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich and went out on the away goals rule, as did Barcelona, despite a lucky 1-0 over Liverpool at Anfield.
The Catalans had also lost their as lead at the top of the Primera Liga with a painful 2-1 defeat at Sevilla last weekend.
In light of those failures, coach Frank Rijkaard had been expected to ditch his controversial 3-4-3 formation against Real Madrid.
However, the Dutchman once again opted for three at the back, with Oleguer, Lilian Thuram and captain Carles Puyol starting in defence.
Mexican Rafael Marquez was once again deployed in the midfield holding role, alongside the more creative trio of Deco, Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
Ronaldinho shook off a knock to start up front alongside Samuel Eto'o and Messi.
Meanwhile, Fabio Capello had been under even more pressure than Rijkaard in the build-up to the match.
The Spanish press claimed that the Italian coach would be sacked if his side lost this match, with former Real striker Michel set to take over.
For a game of such importance, Capello could have done with the experience of David Beckham, Roberto Carlos, Fabio Cannavaro and Jose Antonio Reyes, but all four missed the trip through injury and the Italian was forced to field a severely weakened side.
Sergio Ramos partnered Ivan Helguera in central defence, with Michel Salgado, Manuel Torres and goalkeeper Iker Casillas completing an all-Spanish back-line.
Mahamadou Diarra, Fernando Gago and Guti started in a narrow three man midfield, with captain Raul just behind Gonzalo Higuain and Van Nistelrooy.
The Dutchman got his side off to a perfect start after five minutes.
Guti led a quick Real counter-attack and released the advancing Higuain.
Thuram failed to clear the Argentinian's cross and Van Nistelrooy fired home the loose ball to give the visitors, and Capello, a dream start.
Real's joy did not last long, however, as Barcelona hit back just five minutes later.
Eto'o had forced a fine save from Casillas, but the goalkeeper could do nothing to prevent Messi from equalising after 10 minutes.
Oleguer put the Argentinian through with a long ball which split the visitors' defence and the youngster coolly fired past Casillas.
Three minutes later, Real then retook the lead after Oleguer brought down Guti in the area.
Van Nistelrooy stepped up to score his second of the night and the third goal of a match just 13 minutes old.
Barcelona must have been in shock at this stage, but responded positively and deservedly levelled the match 15 minutes later.
Ronaldinho charged into the left-hand side of the penalty area and forced Casillas into an athletic save after a clever one-two with Eto'o.
However, the Real goalkeeper could only parry the Brazilian's effort and Messi smashed home the rebound to bring the Catalans level.
After Higuain and Eto'o had come both close to scoring in the following minutes, the game then took another dramatic turn just before half-time.
Oleguer upended Ramos and was shown his second yellow card, leaving Barcelona a man down.
Although the Catalans protested that Ramos had made the most of the challenge, the decision stood and Barcelona would have to play the second half with 10 men.
Rijkaard decided to sacrifice Eto'o, sending on Sylvinho to fill in at the back for the departed Oleguer.
With a man up, Real started the second half brightly and Higuain fired over after 49 minutes.
Van Nistelrooy was also still proving a handful for the Barcelona defence and almost bagged his hat-trick after 63 minutes, but Victor Valdes managed to push the Dutchman's lobbed effort over the bar.
Valdes denied the former Manchester United player twice more in the following minutes with excellent saves.
It was no surprise when Sergio Ramos put Real back ahead after 72 minutes.
The defender glanced Guti's inswinging free-kick into the top corner to put the visitors in front for the third time in the match.
But Barcelona never gave up and Messi got his hat-trick with a stunning equaliser right at the death.
The Argentinian skipped past three challenges before hitting a sweet left foot shot past the helpless Casillas.
Rijkaard's side finished on a high and could have had a late penalty when Diarra barged into Ronaldinho, but the referee waved away the Catalan protests and both teams had to be content with a draw.
Barca return to the top of the Primera Liga, but Sevilla can move three points clear with a win at Gimnastic Tarragona on Sunday.
OMG!
