Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid : Five Talking Points

Messi and uarez get the job done as Barcelona stroll to yet another winIt was business as usual for Barcelona as they beat a 9-men Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Camp Nou to go 3 points clear at the top. Koke slotted home a cool finish in the 10th minute to give the visitors a shock lead, but the holders responded brilliantly as Messi and Suarez struck to put the hosts in the lead.Just minutes later, more pressure mounted on Rojiblancos as defender Felipe Luis was sent off for a nasty challenge on Messi, before skipper Diego Godin too was sent for an early bath after a needless foul on Suarez on the byline.Trailing 2-1 in the game and down to 9-men with over 30 minutes still to play, Atletico had enough juice in the can to restrict Barca from extending their lead and kept the scoreline respectable.We delve into some of the major talking points panned out from the turbulent clash in the Catalonian capital.

#1 Atletico- Masters of their own downfall

Diego Godin trudges off the pitch as he gets sent off

The way Atletico Madrid took the initiative in the early stages of the first half suggested that it was going to be a tight encounter. The visitors got off on the brighter note and soon found themselves in the lead when an unmarked Koke rifled past Claudio Bravo straight into the net.

Barcelona struggled to riposte immediately, but moments of magic from Messi and Suarez turned the game on its head. Los Rojiblancos still looked likely to equalise, but blew their game totally up in smoke after 2 clumsy challenges from Luis and Godin reduced them to just 9 men.

Felipe Luis tripped Messi on the knee to earn himself a straight red, and captain Godin followed the unwanted suit after the break with another mindless tackle on Suarez to go into the books for the second time.

Both the challenges looked inane and unnecessary and Atletico could have stood a great chance to take something away from the game had it not been for those two moments of absolute insanity.

#2 Messi- A thorn in Atletico\'s face

It seems Atletico Madrid are one of Lionel Messi’s favourite punching bags. The Argentine talisman was once again on target against the capital club to take his tally to 21 goals in 20 games against them and continued to be a thorn in their face.

After an intelligent run in the box, Messi latched-on to Jordi Alba’s pass to strike fiercely into the bottom corner and restored parity for the home side. In the right place at the right time, it was typical of Messi as the forward extended his goal run and accrued his 12th league strike of the season.

The 28-year old has now scored 5 times in the last 6 games against Atleti, including the title-winner last season and the last-gasp match winner earlier in this one, and continued to gnaw at them.

#3 Barcelona make another bad start

Atletico Madrid players celebrate the opening goal

For maybe the third time in a row, Barcelona got a game off to a whimper. Against Malaga and Athletic Bilbao in their last 2 outings, the reigning European champions stuttered to impose themselves in the game early on and took sometime to really have an impact. In today's tie, it was the same story for Luis Enrique’s men and came under pressure as a result.

In the knowledge that Blaugrana struggle against high pressing teams, the visitors got off the hook in a blistering fashion, taking the game to their illustrous hosts and pressing relentlessly. Barca were again thrown in a tizzy and conceded an early goal.

For yet another time, they started a game on the back-foot and must find a panacea to get rid of this strange syndrome.

#4 Atletico\'s defence losing its sheen

Atletico's defence was all over the place today

Under the stewardship of Diego Simeone, the defence has been the cornerstone to Atletico Madrid's success. They've lead one of the meanest defenses in Europe over the years, and in La Liga this season, had conceded only 8 goals prior to the clash, the lowest in the top 5 leagues of the continent.

However, in the last few games, their reputation for being one of the most resolute sides, has taken a bruising.

The Indios were dumped out of the Copa Del Rey after a stunning 3-2 loss at home to Celta Vigo and their defence appeared devoid of the silk and steel today again. Atletico committed several mistakes at the back and the 'MSN' trio of Barcelona knocked the stuffing out of them with their link up play.

Add to that the howlers by two defenders Felipe Luis and Diego Godin, Atletico's miserable week in defence was summed up. A side against whom scoring looks a Herculean task, ended up conceding 5 times in the last 2 games and it seems their defence is losing its sheen.

#5 Barcelona take a giant leap towards the title

Barcelona well on course for 6th La Liga title in 8 years

And with that victory, Barcelona have taken a giant step in the direction of retaining their La Liga crown. The Catalans snatched the title away from Atletico Madrid last term and look in no mood to relinquish it any time soon.

With a game in hand over their rivals from Madrid, Barca are still 3 points clear at the top of the pile and have laid down the gaunlet to Atletico and Real. The former are in a slump right now whilst the latter are yet to find any sort of consistency.

The defending champions have all their remaining tough ties on the home turf and appear well poised to retain their Spanish hegemony.