05 March,2018 08:25 AM IST | Madrid | AFP
Barcelona's Lionel Messi (right) celebrates his goal against Atletico Madrid with teammates yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Barcelona have one hand on the La Liga title after Lionel Messi's sensational free-kick earned them a deserved 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid yesterday. Atletico arrived at the Camp Nou on the back of eight consecutive wins but Barca halted the surge and instead restored their own lead at the top to eight points, with 11 games left to play.
Messi proved the difference again, his bending first-half strike worthy of winning any contest and taking his own career tally to an astonishing 600 goals, 539 for Barca and 61 for Argentina. The only blot on Barcelona performance was an injury to Andres Iniesta who suffered a thigh strain.
The build-up to this contest was driven by talk of a Barcelona dip following three draws in five league games, with the in-form Atletico primed to move within two points of their rivals.
But Diego Simeone's strategy of countering failed to pay off and, in the end, the visitors might easily have been beaten by a more emphatic scoreline.
Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
