Barcelona 2-0 Atletico Madrid: Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez strike to close in on La Liga title
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Barcelona closed in on La Liga title after beating 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-0 in Saturday's top-of-the-table showdown at the Nou Camp as late strikes by Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi gave the Catalans an 11-point lead at the top of the table.
Atletico began brightly but their gameplan went out of the window when Diego Costa was shown a straight red card in the 28th minute for a verbal tirade at referee Jesus Gil Manzano.
Atletico produced a gutsy second-half display, expertly shackling Barca, but the Catalans finally found a way past the visitors' outstanding goalkeeper Jan Oblak with a superb curling shot from Suarez in the 85th minute.
Moments later Messi sealed victory and quite probably the league title with an irresistibly cool finish into the net and Barca's fans jubilantly chanted "champions", crowing at their surely unassailable lead at the top with seven games remaining.
Atletico midfielder Koke conceded that Barca had wrapped up the title but questioned the decision to send Costa off.
"Barca are practically champions. It was a very strange game, we were doing so well until the red card but all the small details went their way," Koke told reporters.
"Whenever we come here something strange happens, we've had a lot of red cards against Barca and not all of them have been fair. When you have 10 men against one of the best teams in the world it's normal that it's a struggle."
Suarez highlighted his side's character for winning such a difficult game so soon after their gruelling 4-4 draw against Villarreal in midweek.
"This was another game which shows just how hard it is to win the league so we deserve lot more credit for what we're achieving," Suarez said.
"We've now got a very big advantage over Atletico. There are still some games left but we took two steps towards winning the league today."
Atletico realistically needed to win at the Nou Camp for the first time since 2006 to stay in the title race and they played with ambition and intelligence in the opening stages, keeping the ball for long periods and depriving Barca of space.
But they were rocked by Costa's moment of madness which killed their early momentum and left them with little choice but to defend for the remaining hour of the game.
Striker Costa reacted angrily to not being awarded a foul after being tackled by Jordi Alba and gave a long verbal response to the referee, who to his disbelief pulled out a red card.
Costa had to be shepherded off the pitch by Barca's Gerard Pique as he struggled to control his temper while his team mates Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez earned bookings for venting their anger over the decision.
Atletico coped superbly with the setback and numerical disadvantage, controlling the space for the majority of the game.
Messi still carved his way through the middle of the pitch on two occasions, creating openings for Suarez and himself but both South American forwards were thwarted by the titanic presence of Oblak.
Atletico naturally had limited opportunities down the other end but were not far from finding a goal when Antoine Griezmann picked out Rodrigo from a free kick but the midfielder headed over the bar when Gimenez was stood behind him, in a better position.
Diego Simeone's side could not last the distance, however, and as their legs inevitably tired, Barca's attacking quality made the difference.
"We knew what the game would be like, Atletico are very organised and after the red card we tried to attack more but it wasn't easy," Suarez said.
"But we kept going, we showed a great attitude and kept testing their goalkeeper who was the hero of the game."
Reuters
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63 minutes
Brazilian for Brazilian. Malcom is on. Arthur is off. He facilitated things nicely tonight, but his ticking qualities are probably not required at this juncture.
64 minutes
A very, very similar run from Lionel Messi, a very, very similar effort. The Atletico defence can't get near him at the moment such is his pace and close control in the dribble but he's not produced anything to force Jan Oblak into even a spectacular save. The goalkeeper catches again.
65 minutes
Jordi Alba feeds the Argentine down the channel and wins a corner.
Malcom has gone to the right wing with Messi now playing more off the right.
Lionel Messi is starting to fizz and bubble, but Barcelona have not yet forced the opening.
67 minutes
Right.
Free kick Atletico, 25 yards out on the right. Antoine Griezmann might fancy this...
68 minutes
He shoots...
Claimed by Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.
69 minutes
Jan Oblak is utterly magnificent.
A classic Lionel Messi low shot from the edge of the box seems destined for the corner but the Slovenian somehow gets down to it and is remarkably back on his feet in time to catch Malcom's volleyed rebound with the greatest of ease.
A brilliant performance from the Atletico goalkeeper so far.
71 minutes
Saul goes in high on Sergio Busquets, perhaps only escaping a red with Busquets' attempts to dodge leading to minimal contact.
Fatigue starting to set in. The visitors have had to do a lot of defensive work.
73 minutes
The Camp Nou crowd are irritated.
Their side are being frustrated.
Gerard Pique catches Alvaro Morata in the left corner and the centre-back earns a caution for some choice words towards both the striker and the referee. Presumably not about his mother, though. Pique will miss the next game, I believe.
74 minutes
What a chance!
Rodri and Jose Gimenez leap to meet Antoine Griezmann's delivery and it is the former who meets it, Gimenez furious in a seemingly more opportune position to head on target as Rodri can only loop his header across goal and over the bar as he falls backwards.
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