Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona: Five things we learned as Messi reignites title race

Another unconvincing performance from Barcelona, another late goal from Lionel Messi and yet another three points for Luis Enrique’s side on their last ever Liga visit to the Vicente Calderon.  The Catalan giants are top of the table for now and it’s over to you Real Madrid…

Barcelona breathe life into title race

Technically Valencia blew the title race wide open with a shock victory over Real Madrid in midweek  but Barcelona have jumped on the opportunity presented with both hands thanks to Lionel Messi’s late goal. Luis Enrique’s side now top the table by two points ahead of Madrid’s trip to Villarreal later in the day and after all the doom and gloom there is still a huge chance they will finish the season as champions. While Zinedine Zidane’s side will still regain top spot with victory, and also still have a game in hand, make no mistake there is still plenty of life left in this title race.

Record-breaking Messi simply loves Atletico

With 86 minutes on the clock, Barcelona looked to be kissing goodbye to their title until Lionel Messi, who else, popped up and fired home the winner. Once again he had not been at his best, but once again he provided the ultimate contribution. Last weekend he scored both goals, including a late penalty to down Leganes, this time he saw off Atletico Madrid. And how he loves playing Diego Simeone’s side. The Argentine has an incredible 22 goals in 22 games against Atleti. Not only that he has now became the first player to score 20 goals in a La Liga season for nine years in a row. Nine years, where would they be without him? And still Barcelona have not managed to renew his contract. Unbelievable.

Atletico’s defence needs strengthening

Much has been made of the fact that Atletico have already conceded more goals than they did in the whole of the Liga season last year. But the fact is they are not good enough defensively and need to strengthen this summer. Stefan Savic against Luis Suarez looked a mismatch throughout the game while both goals came from less than impressive defending. Barca could have had more goals too, Jan Oblak saving Lionel Messi’s free kick brilliantly and also doing well to deny Gerard Pique.

Luis Enrique gets away with it… for now

Barcelona started in an unfamiliar formation with Rafinha and Sergio Roberto pushing forward and it’s fair to say Atletico dominated the first half. In fact if it wasn’t for Marc-Andre Ter Stegen impressing yet again, they could well have gone into the break ahead. The Barcelona coach was somehow vindicated by Rafina getting on the scoresheet but this was not a confident performance by the Catalans and if it wasn’t for the individual brilliance of their players they would not have won the game. Enrique is unlikely to be at the club next season but he is doing little to convince anyone he deserves to stay.

Atleti face fight for fourth

Simeone’s side are well out of the title race but they are also now facing a fight for fourth place. The Rojiblancos are just a point ahead of Real Sociedad and have a tougher looking run-in than Eusebio Sacristan’s side. Atleti still have to face Sevilla, Real Madrid and Villarreal in La Liga while they face Sociedad in what could essentially be a fourth place play-off on 5 April. Simeone’s men will also have Champions League commitments to complicate their run-in, should they see off Bayer Leverkusen, which they should do after a 4-2 first leg win in Germany. They must recover quickly.

Atletico Madrid: Oblak 8; Vrsaljko 6, Savic 5, Godin 7, Luis 6; Saul 6, Koke 7, Gabi 7, Carrasco 7 (Torres 5) ; Gameiro 6 (Correa 6), Griezmann 6.
Unused subs: Moya, Hernandez, Gimenez, Thomas, Gaitan

Barcelona: Ter Stegen 8; Pique 7, Umtiti 8, Mathieu 6 (Digne 6); Roberto 7 (Gomes 5), Busquets 6, Iniesta 6 (Rakitic 7), Messi 7; Rafinha 6, Suarez 6, Neymar 7.
Unused subs: Cillessen, Alba, Denis Suarez, Alcacer.

Referee: Antonio Miguel Mateu Lahoz