Lionel Messi's injury time equalizer helped Barcelona salvage a 3-3 draw against arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Camp Nou and hold on to the top spot of the league table.
 

Madrid took an early lead when Rudd Van Nistelrooy found the net from the edge of the area in the fourth minute. However Barca were quick to bounce back and were on level terms in the tenth minute when Messi reached a great through ball from Oleguer to fire past Casillas.

It took just three minutes for Madrid to retake the lead and Nistelrooy scored his second of the game from the spot kick after Guti took a tumble in the area following a challenge from Oleguer. Barca once again leveled the match in the 28th minute when Messi pounced on a rebound after Casillas had done well to save a shot from Ronaldinho.

Things got worse for Barcelona as they were reduced to 10 men just before half time as Oleguer was shown his second yellow card after a tackle on Sergio Ramos. Madrid assumed the control of the match in the second half and were rewarded for their efforts as they took a lead for the third time in the match with just 18 minutes remaining.

Ramos headed in a Guti corner to put his team in the lead and with Barcelona down to 10 men, the game looked all but over for the Catalan giants. However Barca never gave up and scored a late equalizer in stoppage time when Messi skipped past three challenges to complete his hat trick

Real's sporting director Predrag Mijatovic was disappointed with the results but chose to look at the positives from the game. "Scoring three goals at the Nou Camp and not coming away with the win is almost unimaginable. But this shows that we are still alive and there is a long way to go yet", he told television channel La Sexta.