Real Madrid vs. Barcelona, 2017 El Clásico: Live coverage and score updates

In his first goal, Lionel Messi shifted the world around Daniel Carvajal. Carvajal must know that the Earth is a sphere, and that one stands straight up, without leaving the ground, and is able to walk without falling over because gravity pulls everything down towards the center of our planet — if the planet had been a square, we would be pulled in a tilted direction.

Yet when Carvajal stuck his right leg out to intercept the ball from Messi, he had to have doubted this science. Messi had already cut to the inside with his right foot, adding more weight to the right side of the world, and Carvajal swung his leg, missed, and inevitably tilted as if physics had abandoned him. He desperately grabbed at the air, trying to combat this random bout of vertigo and to regain a sense of self.

The late goal that James Rodriguez scored for Real Madrid on Sunday nearly put them in control of La Liga. Given the circumstances, it was an amazing play — Sergio Ramos had been shown a red card, and Madrid didn’t have a central defender on the bench. Down a man and a goal against Barcelona, Los Merengues played with just one defender, Nacho.

Ramos’s sending off — when it was 2-1 to Barcelona — should have killed the game. As good as Real Madrid is, Barca should have been able to keep possession and limit Madrid’s scoring chances for the rest of the match. They did no such thing, allowing Rodriguez to score an equalizer. Barcelona pushed hard for a third goal instead of keeping the ball, and they paid for it.

Sunday’s epic El Clásico ended in dramatic fashion. Real Madrid fell to FC Barcelona thanks to the dangerous left foot of Lionel Messi.

Messi’s game-winning goal was his 500th career goal with Barcelona, and his celebration was just as epic as the finish.

This edition of El Clásico was dramatic and incredible to a wildly entertaining degree, with Barcelona coming back from a late equalizer from 10-man Real Madrid to stun their hosts at the Santiago Bernabeu. A last-second winner from Lionel Messi was his second goal in the biggest of moments, in a massive 3-2 win that will change the La Liga title race.

The match started cagily but still with the frenetic energy that so often accompanies El Clásico, with Barcelona trying to settle into a new tactical shape given some of the injuries and suspensions they’re dealing with — most notably Neymar — and Real Madrid not wanting them to have the time or comfort to find their groove. Madrid definitely had the better of the early chances, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen was putting in a strong showing in goal for Barcelona despite the defense in front of him lacking their usual calm, including stonewalling a shot from Cristiano Ronaldo that the Portuguese star is much more used to scoring from.

During El Clásico, Real Madrid had the better chances early on. Barcelona looked like they were going to have a tough time taking a lead. But then Ivan Rakitić came up with this spectacular strike.

This put Barca ahead 2-1, and it might win Rakitić man of the match — he assisted Lionel Messi’s goal, too.

Less than a week after their elimination from Champions League, Barcelona faces a bid to save their season. The Blaugrana sit three points behind Real Madrid in the La Liga title race, and will need to avoid defeat in El Clásico on Sunday to feel like they have any chance of winning the league this season.

Barca’s big problem that they’ll need to rectify from midweek is their shooting. The Blaugrana only put one shot on target as Juventus recorded a very comfortable shutout. Lionel Messi, in particular, had one of his weakest big games in recent memory.