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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Good evening and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of tonight's La Liga clash between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
We'll be bringing you updates from 7.30pm, ahead of a 7.45pm kick-off.
Hola, y bienvenidos.
This is Atletico's last chance at putting a cat amongst the Catalan pigeons at the top of La Liga.
Barcelona are eight points clear, and thus for Diego Simeone's charges to have any hope of livening up the title race again they'll have to win at the Camp Nou tonight.
Kick-off is less than 15 minutes away...
It'll be a tough ask, however, at a stadium where Atletico have struggled recently...
Kick-off very swiftly approaching in the Camp Nou.
It will be interesting to see how Philippe Coutinho goes this evening.
The Brazilian is running out of big games to stamp his authority on the Barcelona side with, if rumours are to be believed, a potential exit on the cards in the summer.
Villarreal pushed Barcelona to breaking point on Tuesday in a pulsating 4-4 draw, Lionel Messi again bailing his side out, continuing his quite magical season.
It was a somewhat more comfortable evening for Atletico, though they needed goals inside the last fifteen minutes from Diego Godin and Antoine Griezmann to get past Girona.
The players stride out on to the beautiful Camp Nou surface, sung on by the typically tuneful Barcelona faithful.
A couple are shown with contrasting loyalties, the woman seemingly a little perturbed by her partner's off-tune singing which does not come across nicely on the camera's microphone.
A handshake between Lionel Messi and Diego Godin. Old foes.
Jesus Gil Manzano tosses the coin. These fixtures can be spicy affairs - the referee may have to have his wits about him.
Patrick Kluivert then presents the rather busy Messi with the March player of the month trophy. Was anyone else even considered?
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