Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona. Spanish La Liga.
Wanda MetropolitanoAttendance64,198.
Sunday 1 December 2019 22:22, UK
Lionel Messi struck late for Barcelona as Antoine Griezmann's return to Atletico Madrid ended in a dramatic 1-0 victory.
Griezmann's first game in Madrid since leaving Atletico for Barcelona dominated proceedings going into the match, but it was Messi who stole the headlines on the eve of the Ballon d'Or announcement.
A couple of inspired Marc-Andre ter Stegen saves initially kept Atletico at bay, with Messi then stroking home in the 86th minute to hand Barcelona all three points.
Victory sends Barcelona top of La Liga ahead of Real Madrid on goal difference, while Atletico Madrid slip to sixth after Athletic Bilbao's win earlier on Sunday.
Atletico dominated the first half but Ter Stegen ensured it remained 0-0 at the break.
After Mario Hermoso's cross was deflected onto the post, the defender was denied by a spectacular point-blank save from Ter Stegen, who also produced an incredible reflex stop to keep out Alvaro Morata's header.
The closest Barcelona went to an opener in the first half was when Gerard Pique's header bounced onto the top of the bar.
After the break, the chances were few and far between, with Jan Oblak making a couple of routine saves to deny Messi and Luis Suarez.
With 20 minutes to go, Pique somehow escaped a second yellow card when bringing down Morata, who also saw a flick cleared off the line by Sergi Roberto.
And with the tie seemingly heading for a draw, Messi rounded off a fine flowing move when stroking the ball past Oblak with four minutes of normal time left on the clock.
The forward will turn his attention to picking up a sixth Ballon d'Or on Monday, with the forward vying with Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk for football's biggest individual prize.
A simple choice following his vital first-half saves from Hermoso and Morata. It's easy to give Messi the plaudits for the late strike, but the man potentially picking up another Ballon d'Or on Monday will be thanking his goalkeeper tonight.
Atletico travel to Villarreal on Friday before hosting Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League on December 11. With one game to go in the groups, Atleti are second, one point above Leverkusen who host Juventus on the same evening.
Barca welcome Mallorca to the Nou Camp on Saturday, and then face a midweek trip to Inter on December 10, having already wrapped up first in Group F.
