Barcelona skipper Lionel Messi has come within inches of hauling his side back into their El Clasico tie with Real Madrid.
Zinedine Zidane‘s side have cruised into a ruthless 2-0 half time lead at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano thanks to goals from Karim Benzema and Toni Kroos.
Barcelona have struggled to impose themselves in the opening 45 minutes in the Spanish capital with Ronald Koeman‘s decision to start with a 3-5-2 system being exposed by the home side.
However, Messi has looked to take matters into his own hands and he almost conjured up a spectacular goal just before the break.
The Argentinian superstar opted to shoot direct from a corner and with Thibaut Courtois beaten his effort bounced back off the far post.
Lionel Messi goes inches away from scoring a corner! 😱
The crossbar saves Thibaut Courtois just before half time 😅 pic.twitter.com/4VgvBFPOUb
— Watch ElClásico live on Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) April 10, 2021
Koeman is almost certain to make changes at the break as he looks to prevent them from being forced out of the La Liga title race with Antoine Griezmann and Trincao both options off the bench.
Images via Getty Images
