( CNN ) -- A late goal from Eric Abidal gave Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory in the first leg of their Spanish Cup quarterfinal clash with arch rivals Real Madrid . The French defender scored the decisive goal in the match known as 'El Clasico ' at Real 's Bernabeu stadium after Barcelona captain Carles Puyol had canceled out Cristiano Ronaldo 's opener . It means Barcelona are favorites to progress into the final four of the competition and eliminate the holders when the two contest the second leg next Wednesday . After a cagey opening , in which Barcelona dominated possession , Real took the lead with their first meaningful attack on 11 minutes . Karim Benzema 's pass found Ronaldo scampering through the middle , and the Portuguese forward stepped past Gerard Pique before firing beyond Barca keeper Pinto . Ronaldo , who has been criticized by some fans for not celebrating some of his recent goals and for missing several chances in the last match with Barca , certainly looked like he enjoyed his opener . Five minutes later Barcelona striker Alexis Sanchez , from Chile , got on the end of Cesc Fabregas ' pass but though his looping header beat Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas , it bounced back off the post . Lionel Messi had his first sight of goal on 26 minutes as his low shot forced Casillas into a smart save at his near post . Andres Iniesta then made some room inside the penalty area but he fired wide after Sanchez 's lay off . But just three minutes into the second half Barcelona pulled level as their captain Carles Puyol stooped to head a corner into the net . Moments later Real defender Sergio Ramos deflected a volley from Iniesta onto the woodwork after a chipped pass from Fabregas . Real then hit the woodwork themselves as Benzema 's header cannoned back off the upright with Pinto beaten . Tempers frayed when Real 's Pepe appeared to stamp on Messi 's hand as the Argentine was on the floor after a foul before Barca edged in front with just over ten minutes to go . Abidal , who signed a new contract at the club this week , controlled Messi 's pass on his chest before shooting low into the net . In Italy , AC Milan progressed to the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup but they needed extra time to beat Novara 2-1 . Stephan El Shaarawy gave the Rossoneri the lead on 24 minutes with a curling shot but Ivan Radovanovic equalized for Serie A 's bottom club with a long range free kick two minutes from time . It was left to Milan 's Brazilian striker Pato to seal victory , ten minutes into the extra half an hour .
Barcelona beat Real Madrid 2-1 in their Spanish Cup quarterfinal first leg tie . French defender strikes 13 minutes from time as holders suffer defeat at home stadium . Cristiano Ronaldo had given Real the lead before Carles Puyol equalized . TL;DR Lionel Messi scored a hat trick and helped Barcelona to victory over Real Madrid on Saturday.