LaLiga 2019-20, Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona: Recapping the last 3 meetings between the two clubs

#1 2018-19: Barcelona 2-0 Atletico Madrid

Messi rejoices after scoring against Atletico Madrid

League leaders Barcelona struggled away against a well-drilled Atletico defence as the game remained goalless with five minutes of normal time remaining.

Atletico were the better side in the opening half-hour as Diego Costa proved a menace for the home team. But the visitors had to ditch their attacking game-plan and resort to their usual counter-attacking style of play when Costa was sent off.

Just as it looked like Atletico had done enough to settle for a goalless stalemate, Luis Suarez proved them wrong. The Uruguayan striker let loose a right-footed effort from outside the box which beat the Atletico keeper Jan Oblak.

Exploiting the suddenly opened-up Atleti backline, Lionel Messi rubber-stamped the win a minute later. The Argentinian's close-range effort found the back of the net despite a well-timed challenge from Jose Maria Gimenez.

It was Messi's 33rd Liga goal of the campaign as Barcelona went 11 points clear at the top.