Real Madrid 3-4 Barcelona: Five things we learned from El Clasico

A hat-trick from Lionel Messi cancelled out Benzema's brace as Barcelona beat Real Madrid 4-3 and finished the game within a point of leaders Atletico and Real Madrid. Here are the major talking points from the game.

#1 La Liga title race is back on

Ahead of the crucial clash with Real Madrid, Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino admitted that "We knew that either the league started up again or it was completely over." Four points behind a Real side that was unbeaten since their 2-1 loss at Barcelona in October, the coach knew that lose this and his side would be seven points behind Real with just nine games to go.

With Atletico winning earlier in the day, the Catalans knew that a victory would leave them just a point off first place. And although they didn’t defend all that well, in Lionel Messi they had a player who took the game by the scruff of the neck and ensured that they left Madrid with the title race firmly in the balance.

With just nine games to go, it looks like La Liga is finally going to witness a proper title race with three teams, instead of one just running away with it, as has been the case recently.