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Real Madrid produced a rampant first-half display to beat Levante 3-2 in La Liga on Saturday with goals from Karim Benzema and Casemiro but dropped off after Eden Hazard came on to make his debut and were left clinging on for the three points.
Barca's problems began when Luis Suarez was taken off injured and they collapsed in the second half, with Levante scoring with all of their first three shots on target.
Messi restored Barca's lead right before halftime with a stunning free kick of his own, curling the ball into the top corner.
Zinedine Zidane's Real side demonstrated their new-found grit to re-take the lead four minutes later.
Real were full of confidence after hammering Leganes 5-0 in mid-week for their biggest win of a stop-start season and appeared to get off to a great start when Eden Hazard struck early. But the goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.
La Liga champions Barcelona's long winning streak came to an abrupt halt when they suffered a shock 3-1 defeat away to Levante on Saturday.
FC Barcelona have maintained their five point lead at the summit of La Liga after seeing off Leganes at the Camp Nou.
Real Madrid earned a therapeutic 2-0 victory at home to Sevilla with late strikes from Casemiro and Luka Modric as Santiago Solari's stuttering side leapfrogged the Andalusians into third spot in La Liga.
After the champions were surprisingly beaten 1-0 by Athletic Bilbao in their opening match of the season last week, they rebounded in style on Sunday.
Barca's all-time top scorer and captain Messi injured his calf in training before his side's brief pre-season tour of the United States and has not yet returned to full training.
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