Lionel Messi didn’t get a touch of the ball during the opening five minutes of tonight’s Clasico.But you can’t keep the Barcelona maestro quiet for long and his influence grew as the first half wore on.Messi, as so often is the case, was at the centre of everything bright the visitors created during the opening 45 minutes at the Bernabeu. He pulled off a couple of sublime runs and forced Casemiro to pick up a cheap yellow card in the 12th minute with a brilliant piece of skill.The five-time Ballon d’Or winner also received a split lip after colliding with Marcelo.Perhaps that was Marcelo’s revenge for Messi humiliating his teammate and compatriot.

Video: Messi’s skill on Casemiro

Messi left Casemiro with twisted blood and received a horrible tackle from behind after bursting clear.

Casemiro took Messi down and was shown a yellow card.

Twitter reacts

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Messi’s skill on Casemiro…

Casemiro breaks deadlock

However, it was Casemiro - of all people - who broke the deadlock midway through the first half.

Sergio Ramos hit the post and Casemiro was on hand to tap home the opener.

Messi equalises

Messi then levelled the scores with a quite beautiful equaliser.