Messi bags late winner at Vicente Calderon

Little Leo Messi bagged a late winner last night at the Vicente Calderon to give Barca victory over Atletico Madrid last night. The game ended up 1-2 with Barca scoring first and then Atletico equalising only for Messi to pop up and save the blaugrana’s in the 81st minute to keep the title hopes alive.

It was a baptism of fire for the rejuvenated Atletico Madrid with Diego Simeone at the helm as Barca handed him his first defeat since he took over the managing position at the club. It was Dani Alves who did the damage in the first half with a goal in the 36th minute. The visitor’s dominated much of the first half but Atletico proved to be a match for Barca with their patient style.

Even keeper Víctor Valdés had a dodgy start when he fumbled a cross from Atletico midfielder Gabi at 6 minutes.

At half time with the score 0-1 in Barca’s favour, Atletico rallied and got off to a good start, forcing errors from Barca and attacking them down the wings. Their insistence paid off too with a goal from Falcao just after four minutes into the second half.

Sergio Busquets failed to clear a corner from the right, instead flicking the ball unwillingly to Falcao to volley in for the hosts to equalise.
The game looked to be heading towards a draw until a free kick was given on the corner of the Atletico area for a foul on Barca substitute Pedro.
Messi asked the referee to take the set piece quickly and promptly curled his effort above the wall which dipped into the opposite corner of the goal.
It was a moment of genius from Barcelona’s star player, and it proved to be the winning goal.

Barca still have Real Madrid in their sights as the points difference remain the same at 10 with Real Madrid beating Rayo Vallecano last night 0-1 with a strike from Cristiano Ronaldo. Barca coach Guardiola has been reported as saying that he doesn’t think he’ll catch Madrid. 10 points does seem like a lot but who knows, it’s definitely not in Barca’s hands now and all they can do is continue winning their games and hope that Real Madrid somehow slip up.