Historically, Lionel Messi has relished facing Real Madrid.With more goals in the fixture than the rest of the current Madrid team put together, it remains to be seen whether Saturday's El Clasico is his last. Only the man himself knows whether he is going to sign a new deal - but he's been defining the rivalry for over a decade. The Argentine made his debut in the 2004/05 season, but it was a couple of seasons later that he really started to show what he was capable of and Pep Guardiola began to lean on him on the biggest occasions of all. In the 2006/07 campaign, Messi put in two brilliant performances in the two Clasicos and his hat-trick against Real has become iconic. It's easy to forget, though, that the forward was just 19-years-old when he almost single-handedly tore Fabio Capello's defence apart. We say 'almost' single-handedly, as he formed a nigh-on telepathic partnership with Ronaldinho on that day. A compilation showing not just his hat-trick, but his overall contribution to that 3-3 draw has emerged and it's a fitting tribute to one of Messi's great performances. All these years on, it's still right up there with his most famous trebles. 

Of course, it wasn't to be enough to win the game for the hosts at Camp Nou as his three goals were counter-balanced by strikes from Ruud van Nistelrooy (2) and Sergio Ramos.

That was an impressive Real outfit, though it was becoming clear that it was Barcelona who had a young genius in their midst. 

Ronaldinho would go on to leave in 2008, so by then his protege had begun to take the limelight. 

It would surely be a stretch to suggest anyone at Real has *enjoyed* facing Messi down the years, but Zinedine Zidane has stressed that doesn't mean he wants him to leave in the summer. 

"Let him stay, let him stay at Barcelona. He's good there. It's good for LaLiga if he stays," was Zizou's verdict.