La Liga: Messi rescues Barca

Atletico Madrid suffered a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon on Sunday.
Diego Godin had quickly cancelled out Rafinha’s second-half opener as the two top-four rivals looked on course for a share of the spoils, but Lionel Messi struck late to rescue his side for the second consecutive week and send them two points clear at the top of the table.
Barca’s fabled attacking trio of Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were kept quiet for the vast majority of the opening 45 minutes, but Messi did fire one snapshot over the crossbar after good work from Suarez.
Enrique’s side did provide a warning shot of the speed at which they can change a game shortly afterwards when Messi’s low strike sparked a goalmouth scramble that resulted with Suarez nodding the ball into an empty net, but the whistle had gone for a handball against the Uruguayan before he applied the finishing touch.
Suarez broke straight up the other end and fired a 20-yard effort narrowly over before the Uruguayan won his side a free kick in a dangerous position as the visitors finally began to settle into the match. Messi curled the set piece towards the top corner, but Jan Oblak was at full stretch to turn it over the bar.
The opening goal of the game finally arrived in the 64th minute when Atletico Madrid failed to clear the lines during a prolonged spell of Barca pressure, and a blocked shot from Suarez eventually fell kindly into the path of Rafinha, who swept it past Oblak.
That lead lasted just six minutes before the hosts were level, though, as Koke’s free kick from the left was met by Godin, whose glancing header diverted the ball past Ter Stegen from a tight angle.
It looked increasingly as though Barcelona would drop more points in the title race, but for the second consecutive week Messi came to their rescue in the dying embers of the game when he poked a loose ball past Oblak from close range having seen his initial shot blocked.
It was the Argentine’s 27th career goal against Atletico, equalling his personal record against a single club, and it proved to be the winner as Barca held out for a crucial three points that piles the pressure back on perennial rivals Real Madrid.