Lionel Messi returns to training as El Clasico looms

The race against the clock is on.

Barcelona's all-conquering superstar Lionel Messi, felled by a knee injury that has sidelined him since late September, continues to inch closer to a return, as the club announced that the pint-sized Argentine was back in training on Monday.

There was even photographic evidence to prove it.

It remains unclear if Messi, the all-time leading scorer in the history of El Clasico with 21 goals, will be fit for Saturday's installment of Europe's most enthralling football rivalry, when the Blaugrana visit Real Madrid.

The attacking wizard was diagnosed with a ligament tear in his left knee on Sept. 26, and club doctors put a timetable of 7-to-8 weeks on his potential return to the pitch, meaning a return in Saturday's contest at the Santiago Bernabeu would come exactly eight weeks after he sustained the ailment against Las Palmas.