Lionel Messi Says There's A Long Way To Go After 'Beautiful' Barcelona Win Over Real Madrid

Barcelona striker Lionel Messi described the 1-0 win over Real Madrid in El Clasico as "beautiful", but said that leading the Primera Liga at this stage of the season holds little significance as there is still a long way to go in the league race.

Messi also said that he felt good on the pitch and suffered no discomfort on returning to action for the Blaugrana after sitting out the midweek win over Inter in the UEFA Champions League.

"We have achieved a victory that has much merit. It's never easy beating a team like Madrid, especially if we consider we were playing with only ten players. When [Sergi] Busquets got sent off we were playing better," he said afterwards, according to Sport.

"It's a beautiful day but the really important thing is get the three points. The bottom line is the victory. For me everything has gone very well. I have not noticed any discomfort and had no problems.

"The league is very long and we have not even finished the first half of the championship. Being leaders at this point in the season does not mean much. We must keep working, knowing that victory is very important but without losing sight that we still have a lot of games ahead in the league."