Barcelona Didn't Need Messi In El Clasico. They Brought Him On Anyway

Barcelona didn't have to twist the knife. But they did.

Leading Real Madrid 3-0 in the Bernabeu, and making a powerful statement in the first Clasico of the year, the Blaugrana could have easily killed the game off and returned to Catalonia the triumphant victors, the clear favorites in La Liga and the masters of El Clasico.

All Barcelona outfield players touched the ball in Barcelona’s first goal in this 36 pass sequence. INCREDIBLE.. pic.twitter.com/PYDOXUkx5r

— Leo Messi (@messi10stats) November 22, 2015

But they didn't do that. Instead, Barcelona made Real Madrid bow and kiss their blue and red-striped feet, the conquering overlords of the Estadio Bernabeu. With the game already for all intents and purposes out of reach, Barcelona manager Luis Enrique subbed on best player in the world and soccer-playing creature from another planet Lionel Messi.

The internet, as you can imagine, handled this with calm and stoicism.

.@realmadrid defense on seeing #Barca sub on Messi #ElClasico pic.twitter.com/ABCQVLadks

— KICKTV (@KICKTV) November 21, 2015

When your team is losing 3-0 and the opposite team brings on Lionel Messi pic.twitter.com/K1qqkilsuk

— Footy Humour (@FootyHumour) November 21, 2015

Then, after Messi came on, he didn't just trot around to test his legs out in his first appearance coming back from injury. He and his Barca teammates did this.

You can almost hear Luis Enrique yelling "sweep the leg, Messi" from the sidelines. Good night, Real Madrid.

Contact The18 Staff Writer Sam Klomhaus at Klomhaus@The18.com or follow him on Twitter @SamKlomhaus