Will Stratmann for Licence to Roam:
It’s hard, then, not to say that Messi won his individual duel against Marcelo, especially once his first-half assist is factored into the equation. But that shouldn’t take away from the Brazilian’s performance, as along with Benzema, he was definitely one of Real Madrid’s best afield. One could, in fact, easily mount an argument that he outperformed his more illustrious opponent in front of the 98,760 people in attendance, but whichever way you look at it, the battle that took place between Messi and Marcelo down the flank definitely flavoured this iteration of El Clasico – and in a good way, too.