La Liga: Messi strike helps 10-man Barcelona draw as Ronaldo goes off injured

Barcelonas Argentinian forward Lionel Messi celebrates at the end of the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona PicAFPLionel Messi weaved his magic to keep 10man Barcelonas unbeaten season alive as a 22 draw at the Camp Nou on Sunday left Real Madrid sweating over an injury to Cristiano Ronaldo Ronaldo was forced off at halftime after appearing to hurt his ankle and Real will be hoping their star striker can now recover in time for the Champions League final against Liverpool on May 26Its a small thing Real coach Zinedine Zidane said afterwards He is a bit worried right now the ankle is a bit swollen but he said it is not so bad Gerard Piques challenge had come as Ronaldo cancelled out Luis Suarezs opener before Sergi Roberto was sent off on the stroke of halftime for an altercation with Real defender Marcelo Barca however took the lead in the second half as Messi scored a brilliant individual goal only for Gareth Bale who could earlier have been sent off to have the last word in a thrilling Clasico his emphatic strike earning Real a deserved draw After initially taking treatment Ronaldo played on for 31 minutes here before Zidane decided to substitute him at halftime which may at least offer Real encouragementIts just the movement tomorrow well see Zidane told Movistar The Champions League final Were going to do everything to make it Fears this meeting which meant little in terms of the table might lack intensity proved well wide of the mark as a pulsating contest littered with controversy could have been won at either end right up until the final whistle Ronaldos injury however coupled with Barcelona avoiding defeat despite playing a man down for the whole of the second half meant the Catalans departed the happier side Ernesto Valverdes men already crowned champions are now three matches away from becoming the first team ever to finish a 38game La Liga season unbeatenAndres Iniesta overcame or perhaps ignored a niggling calf problem to play his 38th and final Clasico while Philippe Coutinho was picked to start his first Iniesta went off to a standing ovation in the second half Barca exploded out of the blocks and they were ahead within 10 minutes Suarez swept the ball out to the right where Sergi ignored Messis run to the near post and returned the cross deep to Suarez He finished into the bottom cornerEqualiser comes at a costThe lead however lasted four minutes Just as Suarez initiated his goal so did Ronaldo a neat backheel freeing Toni Kroos who found Karim Benzema at the back post The Frenchman was cool enough to head back into the sixyard box where Ronaldo bundled home Ronaldo took treatment but was able temporarily to continue and could twice have given Real the lead His first shot was saved by MarcAndre Ter Stegen the second fired wide of the far postIn between Messi had played in Jordi Alba with a sumptuous ball over the top but even he lost his cool during five mad minutes at the end of the first period Suarez felt he had been elbowed by Sergio Ramos prompting the first round of scuffles before Messi was booked for flying into the defender on the touchline Bale was then lucky not to be sent off for stabbing his studs into Samuel Umtitis calf and moments later Sergi did see red as he threw a hand into the face of MarceloThe home fans were raging as the halftime whistle blew but with Marco Asensio on for Ronaldo they were celebrating eight minutes after the restart Suarezs blatant kick on Raphael Varane went unpunished and from there it was all about Messi He skipped away first from Ramos and then Casemiro before firing into the bottom corner Even Zidane was smiling on the touchline Real struggled to capitalise on their oneman advantage until the 72nd minute when Bale raced onto Asensios pass and whipped the ball firsttime into the top corner It was the Welshmans 15th goal in 24 matches this year Real should have had a late penalty when Alba cleared out Marcelo but referee Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez somehow decided the challenge was clean It was the final controversy of a surprisingly heated derbyCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever