Real Madrid have inflicted a first defeat of the La Liga season on Barcelona this evening, beating their rivals 3-1 in El Clasico at the Bernabeu.
The visitors needed less than five minutes to break the deadlock, with Luis Suarez picking out Neymar with a through-ball, before the Brazilian drilled the ball into the bottom corner.
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Real were almost back on level terms just a few minutes later though, as Karim Benzema turned a Cristiano Ronaldo cross onto the crossbar moments after failing to connect with a ball in from Marcelo.
Barcelona could have doubled their advantage when he tried to fire the ball in from the edge of the box midway through the half, but Iker Casillas got his fingertips to it.
The home side were able to get back on level terms when Gerard Pique handled the ball in the box, allowing Ronaldo to step up and slot the ball in from the penalty spot, becoming the first player to score against Barcelona in the league this season.
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Pique almost let the hosts take the lead just before the break when he failed to clear a ball into the box, but James Rodriguez was unable to head in.
After a lively start to the second half, Real edged ahead just five minutes after the restart when Pepe climbed high to head the ball into the bottom of the net.
Barcelona fought hard to try to get back on level terms after falling behind for the first time, but Sergio Ramos blocked a Messi effort before Casillas denied Jeremy Mathieu.
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The misses proved costly as Real struck on the counter-attack, with Ronaldo passing to Rodriguez, who set up Benzema to blast in the home side's third.
Neymar tried to keep Barcelona in the match, picking up a ball into the box from Messi, but he could only drag his finish well wide.
Messi tried to curl the ball in from a free kick in stoppage time to give Barcelona the chance to snatch a point in the final seconds, but he could not test Casillas.
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Despite the defeat, Barcelona remain top in La Liga, just a point clear of Carlo Ancelotti's side.
Sian Cowper
