Madrid took the lead three times in Saturday night's game but, on each occasion, Barca replied through Messi - including an equaliser right at the death that earned the hosts a 3-3 draw.

Having played the entire second half with only 10 men following the dismissal of Oleguer Presas just before the break, Barca can be thankful to have escaped with a point, and, according to Rijkaard, the man mainly responsible for that was Messi.

"He has saved us from defeat. When a player scores three goals, it means he has had a very special game," said the coach.

Twice, Ruud van Nistelrooy netted in the first half for Barca only for Messi to equalise and the Argentinian repeated the feet with his last-gasp goal to deny Real the spoils after Sergio Ramos had put the capital club ahead again in the second half.

Real coach Fabio Capello said: "Football is like this. We had three very clear chances, which brought about three equally incredible saves by the Barcelona goalkeeper.

"We had the chance of winning with a comfortable margin but it wasn't meant to be.

"When the opposition have such quality players as Ronaldinho and Messi, anything can happen at any time."

The thrilling match at the Nou Camp ended with honours even in a week where both outgoing European champions Barca and Real had been eliminated from the Champions League.