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.