Barcelona – Barcelona have one hand on the La Liga title after Lionel Messi’s sensational free-kick earned them a deserved 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
Atletico arrived at the Camp Nou on the back of eight consecutive wins but Barca halted the surge and instead restored their own lead at the top to eight points, with 11 games left to play.
Messi proved the difference again, his bending first-half strike worthy of winning any contest and taking his own career tally to an astonishing 600 goals, 539 for Barca and 61 for Argentina.
The only blot on a dominant Barcelona performance was an injury to Andres Iniesta, who had to be substituted after 34 minutes with what the club confirmed was a strain in the back of his thigh.
Iniesta now has 10 days to recover before next week’s Champions League second leg against Chelsea.
The build-up to this contest, labelled ‘the Grand Final’ by sections of the Spanish press, was driven by talk of a Barcelona dip following three draws in five league games, with the in-form Atletico primed to move within two points of their rivals.
But Diego Simeone’s strategy of absorb and counter failed to pay off here and, in the …read more