Late Messi goal hands Barcelona win over Atletico
MADRID: Atletico Madrid’s ordeal against Barcelona continues in the Spanish league.
Lionel Messi made up for a lackluster performance by scoring in the 86th minute on Sunday, giving Barcelona a 1-0 win at Atletico and extending the Catalan team’s unbeaten run against the Madrid rivals to 19 league matches.
“It’s always a big advantage to have Messi in even games like these,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said.
Messi struck with a low leftfooted shot from outside the area after being set up by Luis Suarez to keep Barcelona unbeaten against Atletico for nine years.
“We played a great match, but when Leo shows up he can make a difference,” Atletico forward Saul Niguez said. “It’s incredibly easy for him to do these things, that’s why he is the best.”
It was Messi’s 30th career goal against Atletico, who hadn’t lost at home in 17 matches in all competitions.
“Messi appeared out of the match for a long time, but when he had a chance he broke free and scored a great goal,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.
The victory put Barcelona back at the top of the league above Real Madrid — who won at Alaves on Saturday — on goal difference.
Atletico dropped to sixth place, six points behind Barcelona and Real Madrid who have a game in hand after their October clasico was postponed until December 18 because of a separatist rally in the Catalan capital.
Sevilla stayed third after beating last-place Leganes 1-0 earlier Sunday, while Real Sociedad are in fourth place after routing Eibar 4-1 on Saturday.
“The league is very long, we have to keep working to stay close to the leaders,” Simeone said.
The match marked Antoine Griezmann’s return to the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium after being transferred to Barcelona at the end of last season. He was loudly jeered by most Atletico fans nearly every time he touched the ball. The France striker had a quiet performance and never posed a significant threat.
Atletico had most of the chances at the Metropolitano, but both teams squandered good opportunities throughout the match.
Each side hit the woodwork in the first half, and both goalkeepers—Atletico’s Jan Oblak and Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen—made some good saves to keep the game scoreless.
Messi broke the deadlock after an exchange with Suarez, whose perfect touch just outside the box set up the playmaker’s well-placed low shot.