Messi gets his first touch early on, accelerating away before Marcelo’s challenge knocks the ball away.

Messi struggles to impose himself, getting knocked off the ball a few times as Diarra tracks back strongly.

Messi combines brilliantly with Xavi before releasing Pedro on the left, whose low cross is cut out.

Drifting to the left, Messi tries to drive at Pepe, but the defender uses his strength to shoulder him off the ball.

Messi threads a superb pass to Xavi, whose low shot from the edge of the box is beaten away by Casillas for Barcelona’s first real chance.

Messi’s movement and vision help push Real Madrid’s defensive line back as Xavi beats the offside trap in an unusual advanced position.

Messi comes deeper to influence play but his forward pass is cut out, with Piqué covering well after Diarra looks for Özil on the break.

Messi attempts to slide a through ball to Pedro, but Albiol reads it and intercepts as Barcelona try to play higher up the pitch.

Messi slips a clever pass to Villa on the opposite side, nearly finding a gap in Real Madrid’s back line despite miscommunication between Keita and Pedro.

Messi combines on the edge of the box with Villa, who robs Marcelo and wins a corner as Barcelona’s forwards look the most dangerous.

Xavi feeds Messi, who nudges the ball on to Villa; Villa tries to set it back to Messi, but the return pass is cut out, ending a spell of slick one-touch football.

Pedro crosses from the right to Messi, who controls and lashes a shot that is blocked by Sergio Ramos inside the area.

Finding space centrally, Messi delicately chips a ball toward Keita’s run, but it’s just too high and drifts over his head.

Sergio Ramos is booked for a cynical foul on Messi, hacking him down to stop a promising Barcelona move.

For the first time, Messi is allowed to turn and run directly at the defence before Ramos’ cynical challenge halts the break.

Barcelona sit deeper for a spell, but Messi starts seeing more of the ball even as Real Madrid continue to double up on him and deny space.

Messi drops very deep to collect possession yet still struggles to dictate play the way he usually does, with Villa working hard but somewhat wasted out wide.

Messi opens the scoring with a close‑range finish, darting in front of Ramos to stab in Afellay’s low cross after the substitute’s electric run down the right.

Messi crashes into Raúl Albiol, sending the defender flying, but the referee keeps his cards in his pocket.

Afellay again drives down the right, and although Xavi and Messi try to combine at the edge of the box, their intricate passing move breaks down.

Messi scores a breathtaking second, slaloming past multiple defenders from deep, riding Albiol’s attempted foul before calmly slotting past Casillas to make it 2–0.

After his first goal, Messi celebrates passionately, underscoring how his strike has transformed an ugly, tense match.

By full-time, Messi has turned a grim, ill‑tempered contest into a decisive 2–0 away win with his brace, especially after Afellay’s introduction and Pepe’s sending off.