( CNN ) -- It was billed as the battle of the heavyweights . In the red corner -- Radamel Falcao -- one of the most coveted strikers in world football and one of the most lethal finishers around . Only last week , Falcao hit five in his side 's demolition of Deportivo to add to his already burgeoning reputation . In the blue corner -- Lionel Messi -- perhaps the greatest to have ever played the game . The man with 88 goals to his name in 2012 . The magical and mesmerizing feet of Messi going up against the pace and predatory instincts of Falcao . It had all the ingredients of a classic . Between them they have run La Liga and European defenses ragged , scoring goals at will and leaving defenders trailing in their wake . Going into the clash , Messi had plundered 23 league goals to Falcao 's 16 . It was time for the two to go head-to-head . For Barcelona , victory over Atletico would place it nine points clear of its closest title rival and surely allow the Catalan club to wrestle the title away from defending champion Real Madrid . A win for Atletico would finally confirm that Diego Simeone 's men could be taken seriously as a championship challenger . Magic Messi extends record streak . Atletico and Falcao -- the pretenders to Barcelona and Messi 's crown . And pretenders they will remain . In the end , the chasm could scarcely have been greater as Simeone 's men were put in their place without any sign of mercy from Tito Vilanova 's side . Barca has now won 15 of its opening 16 league games , taking an astonishing 46 points from a possible 48 . With Real Madrid only managing to draw with Espanyol earlier Sunday , Barca moved 13 points clear of its great rival . It was Messi who stole the show once again as the little magician emerged out of the shadows to crush Atletico . Two second-half strikes took his total to 90 for the calendar year and 25 league goals for the season as Barca came from behind to win 4-1 . Messi map : How Argentine maestro conquered the world . And yet for the opening 30 minutes it appeared that the Messi 's evening might have not been so enjoyable . Instead it was Falcao who took center stage , bullying Barcelona 's defenders at every opportunity . It was the Colombia star who had the first opportunity of the contest , heading against the post after just nine minutes as Atletico signaled its intentions . Falcao then went close again after firing narrowly wide when well placed , while Messi seemed to vanish as Atletico took control of the contest . Barcelona was finally undone just after the half-hour mark when Falcao produced an exquisite finish to silence the majorityof those packed inside the Camp Nou . Messi fit to resume bid for goal record . After taking the ball in his stride , Falcao burst past Barcelona 's central defenders before lifting the ball over the stranded Victor Valdes to net his 17th league goal of the season . It was no less than Atletico deserved , but that strike only served to awaken Barca from its slumber . No less than five minutes had elapsed before Barca drew level in spectacular style thanks to Adriano 's stunning curling effort . The right-back turned onto his left-foot , before unleashing a wonderful rasping effort into the top corner to bring his side level . And with just seconds of the first half remaining , Busquets lashed home from close-range after Atletico had failed to clear . From dominating the game , Atletico had been rumbled in the blink of an eye . Messi makes case as world 's greatest ever player . Worse was to follow as Messi began to find time and space as Atletico started to lose its way . Just 12 minutes of the second half had passed before the Argentine finally grabbed his trademark goal , firing home his 89th of the year with a neat curling effort . He reached 90 late on , taking advantage of a horrific defensive mistake to slot home his 25th league goal of the season . Incredibly , Messi has scored 58 out of Barcelona 's 116 league goals in 2012 . Mourinho : 'No story ' in Real Madrid exit rumors . Meanwhile , the pressure continues to build on Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho after he all but conceded defeat in the race for the title . Real fell further off the pace after being held to a 2-2 draw at home by lowly Espanyol and are 13 points off the lead . Espanyol had taken a shock lead through Sergio Garcia after 31 minutes before strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo and Fabio Coentrao put the home side in control . But with just two minutes remaining , Juan Albin popped up to steal a precious point for relegation-threatened Espanyol and leave Real reeling . `` The league is now impossible , '' Mourinho told reporters . `` It is the first time that I have been in a situation like this where my team are a long way off their objectives . `` But I do n't want to make a drama out of it , I will treat it as another stage of my life . '' Elsewhere in La Liga , Valencia was beaten 1-0 at home by Rayo Vallecano , while Levante claimed a 1-0 victory at Real Zaragoza .
Lionel Messi took his tally to two for the calendar year with two goals against Atletico Madrid . Messi 's double and further goals from Adriano and Barca 4-1 gives Adriano win . Real Madrid held to a 90 -2 draw by lowly Espanyol . Real boss Real Madrid : `` The league is now impossible . ''