It was a breathless encounter to say the least, and this weekend's latest Clasico lived up to all expectations as Barcelona moved level on points with Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.Lionel Messi stole the headlines with two stunning goals despite taking a blow to the mouth, but the game left fans and pundits with a whole host of talking points in general.Messi popped up at the death to punish the hosts for the chances they didn't take and sent newspaper editors into a frenzy in the process. Once again, the diminutive Argentinian highlighted exactly why he's regarded as the best in the world by so many.One of the attributes in Messi's locker has always been his pace and his close control while dribbling. Many a time he has made a defender look like an average standard pub player with his acceleration, which has stayed with him even though he is fast approaching the age of 30.However, even though he was head and shoulders above everyone else on Sunday evening, he wasn't the fastest player on the pitch.You must be thinking that if it wasn't him, then Ronaldo is, but no, you'd be mistaken there, too, as the speediest player on the pitch isn't a man you'd expect to take that particular crown.Stats released by Spanish publication Marca have shown that the entire Barcelona team ran seven kilometres more than their title-chasing counterparts, though the stats are a little unfair considering Real played a potion of the game with only 10 men.Barca full-back Sergi Roberto covered an impressive 12km during the game, with Ivan Rakitic and Jordi Alba both covering 11km.Barca had an extra-day to recover from their Champions League exploits than Real, and it showed as only Dani Carvajal and Toni Kroos managed to cover more than 10km.Their speed was also much greater than that of Los Blancos, recording a top speed of 105.46km, compared with the hosts' 98.75km.But the quickest of the bunch was none other than centre-back Gerard Pique, who recorded a top speed of 33.33km/h, which was only marginally ahead of the likes of Marco Asensio (33.22km/h) and Cristiano Ronaldo (33.14km/h).

Stunning effort from the former Manchester United man, though this won't be what will be discussed when fans look back at the game as the ongoing soap opera between him and Sergio Ramos refuses to go away.

Once again the pair snipped at each other as the Madrid man was given his marching orders during the second half, and their constant bickering has one of the biggest talking points during the entire campaign.