El Clasico proves Messi's reinvention as Barcelona's trequartista

The sight of Lionel Messi on the run is a scary thing, and he had his way in Sunday's El Clasico. Real Madrid was left with one of two choices: hack down the Barcelona superstar, or watch helplessly as he stormed by.

With three touches, the diminutive Argentine accelerated past Luka Modric and Dani Carvajal - who could only swing a foot at Messi's shadow - to score the devastating opener.

He also showed a great combination of speed and guile in stoppage time. Going unnoticed as he trailed the play, Messi drifted into the middle and drove a 92nd-minute winner into the bottom corner. It was his 500th goal for Barcelona, capping another impressive outing as Barcelona's omnipresent trequartista.

Whether he was scoring the goals or drawing fouls, Messi shaped the nature of Barcelona's 3-2 victory over Madrid. He managed 72 touches throughout the match - only Sergi Roberto, Sergio Busquets, and Andres Iniesta had more - and dominated the middle of the park. Casemiro was forced to trip up Messi so many times that he put himself at risk of a red card. Manager Zinedine Zidane replaced the Brazilian with Mateo Kovacic as a precautionary measure, but minutes later, Sergio Ramos received his marching orders for a lunging challenge on Messi.

In other words, Messi was completely unplayable. He suffered a game-high six fouls in all, not including an elbow to the face by Marcelo.

In some of his other headline performances for Barcelona, Messi had tremendous success cutting in from the right wing. But he had much more freedom in a central role Sunday, a position that allowed him to make plays and dictate Barcelona's tempo.

(Courtesy: whoscored.com)

Dropping behind Luis Suarez and Paco Alcacer, who replaced the suspended Neymar, the 29-year-old played as he did as a youth. Messi saw himself as more of a No. 10 in the mold of Maradona, filling the hole in a 4-3-1-2 formation, according to football journalist Jonathan Wilson. He eventually adapted to Barcelona's 4-3-3; on Sunday, he looked liberated.

Even without Neymar on the pitch or Suarez offering much of note, Messi did superlative things on his own. Barcelona's system and players didn't help him, as is often the accusation when Messi underperforms for Argentina. Messi played in spite of them.

The red card certainly made for a hectic ending, and Zidane's decision to press high and chase a game Madrid didn't really need to win created the conditions for Barcelona to snag a winner on the break.

But Messi dictated everything, starting the attacks and finishing them. Before scoring the first goal, Messi had the ball behind holding midfielder Busquets, and three seconds later, he found himself back in possession on the edge of the box. Pockets of emptiness opened up, and he exploited them.

At other times, Messi was parallel with Andres Iniesta, biding his time as he surveyed the pitch. With Messi far from sight, it was as if Madrid's defenders forgot about him. He made them pay, using his pace to infiltrate the space between the lines.

He's played centrally for the better part of two months now, and it hasn't scuppered his scoring ability. His El Clasico brace was his fourth two-goal performance in eight matches. With 31 tallies in La Liga, he is leading the race for Spain's Pichichi award.

Make no mistake: Messi has reinvented himself for the better, and he's borrowed a little from his childhood past to do it.