Argentina talisman Lionel Messi scored in the waning moments of a rain-hit game to help Barcelona inch Atletico Madrid in a nail-biting La Liga clash at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday night. The win also saw the Blaugrana retain the top spot in the league table ahead of Real Madrid.
Messi boasted a brilliant one-two combination with Luis Suarez on the edge of the Atletico area before curling a left-foot shot into the back of the Atletico net to make Barca the numero uno in the tournament.
The crowd on Sunday witnessed a perfect thriller as both sides had chances to win the game with Barca shot stopper Marc Andre Ter Stegen making two brilliant first-half saves, while Gerard Pique, who had to leave the pitch with an injury in the closing minutes, saw a header bounce back off the crossbar.
Messi drew the first and only blood of the match in the 86th minute and sealed the fate in favour of the guests.
Barcelona had been in danger of losing the leadership after Real Madrid dug deep to take all three points from their visit to Deportivo Alaves with goals from defenders Sergio Ramos and Dani Carvajal 24 hours earlier. But the Messi magic ensured that the Blaugrana lead the table.
Notably, Ernesto Valverde’s men were sporting their new and fourth kit in Sunday’s encounter against Atletico Madrid.
The kit, which was unveiled this month, has all yellow having four red diagonal stripes, and comes with yellow shorts and socks. It has been launched with a tagline which translates to “it’s deep within us” in English. The tagline is in relation to the club’s Catalan identity.