Lionel Messi has claimed that Barcelona took "an important step" in challenging for the La Liga title when they recorded a 3-2 victory away to Real Madrid in Sunday night's El Clasico.

Defeat at the Bernabeu would have left Barcelona six points behind Real Madrid, who would still have had a game in hand, but the last-gasp victory moved the Catalan giants ahead of their rivals on the head-to-head basis.

Madrid are still in charge of their own destiny in La Liga this season, but Messi has said that the victory 'kept Barcelona in the battle for the title'.

"We went to the Bernabeu looking for a win to keep ourselves in the battle for the La Liga title," Messi wrote on his official Facebook account. "There is still a long way to go, but we came away with the joy of having taken an important step."

Messi scored his 499th and 500th goals for Barcelona during the clash in Madrid.