Barcelona opened up a seven-point lead at the top of La Liga as Robert Lewandowski’s late strike ensured they came from behind to beat ten-man Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the Spanish capital.
There were chances at both ends in the opening exchanges as Fermin Lopez had one effort saved and missed another for the visitors, a trick repeated by Antoine Griezmann at the other end.
Lamine Yamal then hit the woodwork after being played in by Dani Olmo and that miss proved costly when Giuliano Simeone handed the hosts the lead before half-time as he ran onto a long ball and clinically converted past Joan Garcia.
The one-goal advantage did not last long though, with Marcus Rashford equalising within minutes as he played a delightful one-two with Olmo before thrashing through Juan Musso.
To make matters worse, Atleti were reduced to ten men deep into first-half injury-time as Nico Gonzalez, booked earlier in the half, received a straight red for a cynical tackle on Yamal that denied a clear goalscoring opportunity.
The game continued to be fiery after the break, with Gerard Martin getting a reprieve for a nasty tackle on Thiago Almada, as VAR got involved to downgrade his sending off to a yellow.
With the man advantage, Barca started to turn up the heat, only for Juan Musso to make two splendid stops from Ferran Torres.
But they did finally find the second with minutes left when Joao Cancelo’s saved shot rebounded towards Lewandowski, who used his shoulder to bundle home.
