Lionel Messi was thrilled with Barcelona's thrashing of Atletico Madrid last night.

The Argentina ace was at the heart of the 6-1 demolition and remarked afterwards: "We came out all right, we had a great game. It was a very difficult contest, against a good opponent - and we left with am incredible win.

"The tackle (from Antonio Lopez) has already been forgotten.

"Barcelona has proved to be a good team, we have lots of quality and we will continue upward. We needed a game like this, especially because the fans reacted well and helped us to play better.

"Now comes a few days to remember this game and enjoy it a bit more."

Messi had a touchline confrontation with Atletico coach Javier Aguirre, but shrugged it off in the post-match media conference.

However, Aguirre went further and said: "I saw him make a gesture with his hand to one of my players. I asked him to show some humility in victory and he asked me not to carry on.

"But he's a gentleman."