Lionel Messi scored as a substitute to give Barcelona a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Saturday.
In the clash between the last two champions, Fernando Torres put Atletico ahead in the 51st minute, only for Neymar to equalize from a free kick four minutes later.
Messi was on the bench following the recent birth of his second son. But he went on for the final half hour and immediately changed the match, scoring the 77th-minute winner from Luis Suarez's pass.
"When we have the best player with us, we all play better," Neymar said.
Barcelona moved to the top of the standings with the defending champion's third win in as many rounds. Madrid were two points behind, and Atletico three behind.
Suarez had the first scoring chance of the match at Vicente Calderon Stadium when he redirected the ball from a corner kick headed on by Rafina off the crossbar in the 24th.
Barcelona's thin defense was playing already without the suspended Gerard Pique and the injured Dani Alves before it took another hit two minutes later when Thomas Vermaelen needed to be substituted by Jeremy Mathieu.
After a first half dominated by Barcelona, Torres scored on Atletico's first shot on goal when a series of quick passes led to Tiago Cardoso sending the ball forward for the striker to use one touch to score it off the far post. It was Torres' 10th goal in 14 career matches against Barcelona.
Atletico's celebrations didn't last long, as Neymar earned a foul and converted it into a beautiful goal by striking a free kick over the barrier and beyond the diving reach of goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Messi then gave Barcelona complete control, almost setting up Neymar before he found his first goal of the season to finish off a team buildup completed by Suarez's assist.
Comments
0 comment