Barcelona Vs. Real Madrid, 2011 Spanish Supercup: Halftime, Lionel Messi On Fire As Barca Leads 2-1

El Clasico has occasionally failed to live up to the hype in recent years, but that certainly isn't the case in the 2011 Spanish Supercup. The first leg at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu over the weekend was stunning and the first half of the second leg at Camp Nou hasn't been any different. Thanks to some great play by Cristiano Ronaldo and some absolutely jaw-dropping individual brilliance by Lionel Messi, Barcelona lead 2-1 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate. It's been a close match with Madrid very much in it, but there's no doubt that Barca deserve their lead.

The first goal came 14 minutes in, thanks to some magic by Messi and Andres Iniesta combined with some poor defending by Madrid. From a deep position in the middle of the pitch, Messi played an unbelievable through ball for Iniesta to run on to. The central midfielder timed his run perfectly, staying onside while leaving Madrid's defense in the dust. Once one on one with Iker Casillas, he finished with a fantastic chip to give Barcelona the lead.

Madrid's equalizer came quickly, in the 20th minute, and in a very un-Madrid kind of way. Known for their great individual skill and beautiful football just like Barcelona, this goal was a simple throw-it-in-front-of-the-net kind of play. Karim Benzema provided the assist with an in-swinging ball and Ronaldo was the man who got his toe to it, poking it into the back of the net for the equalizer. 

Barca would take the lead in the 45th minute, though, thanks to a fabulous combination between Messi and Gerard Pique, with the former providing the finish. After an impressively quick give and go in the box, Messi took the ball past the defense and chipped the ball over Casillas in stride, right into the back of the net. Just like in the first leg, Barca have scored just before the stroke of halftime, much to the disgust of Jose Mourinho.

We'll be covering the match from start to finish right here in this StoryStream. For more on Real Madrid, check out Managing Madrid. For more on FC Barcelona, check out Barca Blaugranes.