Diego Costa received a straight red card for dissent as Barcelona secured a late 2-0 win over Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou.
Match Report
Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored late goals again to move Barcelona to within touching distance of the title, as they beat 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-0 at Camp Nou to open an 11-point lead at LaLiga's summit.
Although Atletico – who had Diego Costa sent off in the first half – looked set to hang on to a draw, Barca's dominance ultimately paid off as Suarez and then Messi struck late in the day as they did against Villarreal on Wednesday to land what is surely a fatal blow in the race for title.
Barca edged a tense first half, which saw Costa given a straight red card in the 28th minute for berating referee Jesus Gil Manzano, though they were unable to turn their superiority into a lead.
Atletico weathered the storm for most of the second period as well, with Jan Oblak producing an inspired performance, but he was finally beaten twice in the last five minutes as Messi claimed a record-breaking 335th LaLiga victory.
Player Ratings
Match Events
14' OFF THE POST! Alba almost scores
Messi releases the run of Alba over the top and the Spaniard takes a brilliant first touch. He lifts the ball over Oblak for his second only to be denied by the post before Atletico clear the danger.
28' Red Card! Costa sent off
OFF! COSTA IS GIVEN A STRAIGHT RED CARD! The Atletico forward has been given his marching orders by the referee.
He was not happy with a decision by the referee and went straight up the official. He let his feelings known and seemingly overstepped the mark. Referee Jesus Gil Manzano brandished the red card, prompting a furious reaction from the Atletico players. Costa has to be escorted from the field by Pique of all people.
28' GOAL! Barcelona 1-0 Atletico (Suarez)
SUAREZ GETS THE BREAKTHROUGH!!!! Out of nowhere the home side take the lead. Suarez collects the ball on the edge of the box and takes a touch to create room for a strike on his right foot. He bends his effort towards the bottom corner where it beats the outstretched hand of Oblak to nestle into the back of the net. The Uruguayan does it again for Barca.
28' GOAL! Barcelona 2-0 Atletico (Messi)
MESSI MAKES IT TWO!!! BARCELONA 2-0!!! The dam has broken and Messi surely secures the win and potentially the LaLiga crown for Barca with a low strike. The Argentine found space on the right flank and surged into the inside channel. Fortune was on his side as Gimenez just lost out in the tackle, despite getting a foot to the ball. Even with a crowd of players surrouding him, Messi picked his spot, finding the bottom corner.
Line-ups
Barcelona XI: L. Messi, L. Suárez, Piqué, I. Rakitić, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Philippe Coutinho, M. ter Stegen, S.Roberto, Lenglet, Arthur
Subs: Prince, Jeison Murillo, J. Cillessen, S. Umtiti, Semedo, Carles Aleñá, Malcom
Atletico XI: Filipe Luis, D. Godín, Diego Costa, S. Arias, J. Oblak, A. Griezmann, Saúl, Koke, T.Partey, J. Giménez, R.Hernández
Subs: Juanfran, N. Kalinić, Adán, Savic, Morata, Vitolo, Correa
devbat52
895
Man u to ole: sir, what did you observe in Barca? Ole : I surely went to observe Barca but instead I could only observe oblak Man u: Anything else? Ole : Yes, we are gonna lose
BadallNafar
635
The Sportsmanship 😍💝
nuaabcdkl
607
Suarez : class is permanent Messi : no word as usual oblak : best goalkeeper dembele is missed
mterstegen1
505
when you get past gimeniz and there is Oblak
VanishPrasad
480
Ole studied Barca's whole game today but in the end Dembele will come out of syllabus 🤣
Hadam44
414
OBLAK should chan+ge his name to "OH BLOCK"
Tijane_Alcantara
359
Fabio Capello: "I faced Messi when he was 16 years old and I was amazed. He did the same things he does today but 20 years younger because he was born a genius. He invents things that others don’t see. Ronaldo has made himself a champion, but not a genius.
rohitgirwal18
329
Lionel Messi is now the player with the most La Liga wins in history 🐐
Zaadlrt
289
Messi will always be? MESS he will never get tried of scoring
shadyshades98
285
Not on his best day ? No free kick today ? No problem he still comes up with magic Best player ever. Even in his bad game he made oblak freeze❄️❄️
nkbotchway
162
With Suarez and Messi in front, I can safely sleep knowing that United is destroyed
Gabrieljackson
154
please someone has to put it words for those guys to be awarded the best Goalkeeper for this season
Aaxelll
109
Oblak what a tremendous keeper, for me man of the match, it's just sad how this referee officiated the game would have loved tranquility
VanishPrasad
107
Everyone is busy talking about Oblak, Suarez and Mesi but they forgot about Rakitic. Surely. Make an appreciation about rakitic, has been brilliant for atleast 10 games straight. 111 passes with 93.3 passing accuracy and the ball which led to the last goal. Barcelona's best midfielder this season
chrisss1999
92
It seems like atletico have woken up and recognise they’re also in la liga and they can win the title but it’s too late[Crylaugh][Crylaugh] hands up to little genius messi🙌🏾🙌🏾
sam_04
88
big guns (Messi and Suarez) with silencers (Lenglet and Pique) won this game
YomiteYomas
78
it's sad how Diego's always on the edge, he's world class but needs to work on his temperament .. he bottled it for ATM ,result may turn out to be different if it had been 11v11.. congrats to Barcelona anyways..
SINGAM23
49
The World knew of goals coming in (especially when it's from Suarez & Messi). Jan Oblak was finest at the post. Hence, defensive errors were the main reason for Atleti to succumbed to the last minutes' goals defeat by Barca. Atleti defenders were too Scarry & Fearful whenever Messi gets the ball in front goal mouth.
zeekb
39
just give messi his ballon d or now #end of discussion
Jidmorstyz
24
Man u to ole: sir, what did you observe in Barca? Ole : I surely went to observe Barca but instead I could only observe oblak Man u: Anything else? Ole : Yes, we are gonna lose
[image]
we won the match......but today he's my HERO......JAN OBLAKKKK....
PV
23
Man u to ole: sir, what did you observe in Barca? Ole : I surely went to observe Barca but instead I could only observe oblak Man u: Anything else? Ole : Yes, we are gonna lose
[image]
Losing to a better side isn't a shame. 😢
ghabbyexclusive
11
Ole: Unfortunately, Barca has bought the referees, so it’ll be tough. But we’ll pull through
A juve fan talking about referees when u get penalty every match in your farmers league
SINGAM23
10
Costa should've bitten Pique for advising
uefadrid2626
10
Ole: Unfortunately, Barca has bought the referees, so it’ll be tough. But we’ll pull through
can't accept the truth🤣😂😂😂cry
footballfanatic7298
9
or he is just rubbing salt into the wounds
I don't think so. They were good friends in national team, and from their expressions he was telling Costa to calm down and walk away and costa seemed to listen to him
nacbdikouy
8
Ole: Unfortunately, Barca has bought the referees, so it’ll be tough. But we’ll pull through
this guy is literally getting satisfied by licking cristiano's ass...😂🤣🤣
AngelBhusalBarçafan
8
Ole: Unfortunately, Barca has bought the referees, so it’ll be tough. But we’ll pull through
Irony is that a Juve fan is talking about referee favoring other team 😂 😂