Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona

Lionel Messi racked up a late victor for the 2nd week straight as Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid 2-1 on Sunday.

The two sides were level late on at the Vicente Calderon, but Messi stepped up to the mark to bag a decisive victor.

Mathieu was part of a back three against Atletico as Luis Enrique changed his system in search of a reaction following a string of disappointing performances. Messi would start as a No. 10 with Luis Suarez upfront while Arda Turan and Neymar would start out wide.

“We’re trying to bring Messi to Atletico Madrid”, he told Bein Sport.

This would automatically rule the defender out for the two La Liga encounters Sporting and Celta but also for the second leg of the Champions League last 16 with PSG – to be played on Wednesday 8 February.

But the visitors had the final say. Messi curled the set piece towards the top corner, but Jan Oblak was at full stretch to turn it over the bar.

Barca capitalised on that let-off in the 64th minute, as Suarez’s charged-down shot fell kindly for Rafinha and he tucked a neat finish inside the left-hand post from close range.

Defeating Atletico also left Simeone’s side seven points behind third-placed Sevilla and nine off Barca, as their chances of winning the league diminished even further.

Griezmann saw an initiative conserved by Ter Stegen at the various other end prior to Godin goinged 6 backyards out.

With time running out, Barcelona camped in Atletico’s half and eventually got the victor on 87 minutes thanks to Messi who poked the ball past Oblak. The win helped the Blaugrana leapfrog Real Madrid into top spot for the time being with Los Blancos playing later in the night – Zinedine Zidane’s side have a game in hand too.

Do you think Barca can catch Real in La Liga?

With three goals in 20 minutes on Sunday, Real Madrid made sure that Barcelona’s stint at the top of the Spanish league didn’t last more than a few hours.