MADRID (AP) - Atletico Madrid was able to contain Lionel Messi and yet still couldn’t top Barcelona in the Spanish league on Saturday.
Atletico was a few minutes away from ending a seven-year winless streak against Barcelona in the league until Luis Suarez produced an 82nd-minute equalizer for 1-1.
Suarez had been ineffective at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium before his late header that extended Barcelona’s unbeaten streak against Atletico to 15 league matches.
Atletico did a decent job stopping Messi after his starring role to put Argentina in the World Cup. He has 14 goals in 12 matches with Barcelona but was unable to score at the Metropolitano. His best chance was a second-half free kick that hit the post.
The playmaker, coming off a long trip from Ecuador for Argentina’s qualifier, had arrived with 27 goals in 34 matches against Atletico in all competitions.
“He certainly wasn’t as tired as most people thought he would be because he played a tremendous match,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said of Messi. “We defended well, just couldn’t put the game away on the counterattacks.”
The result ended Barcelona’s perfect league record and cut the club’s lead to five points over Real Madrid, which defeated Getafe 2-1 with a late winner by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Atletico stayed in third place, six points behind Barcelona, which won its first seven league matches.
Sevilla dropped to fourth place, also six points off the lead, after losing at Athletic Bilbao 1-0.
BLOWN LEAD
Barcelona, which had outscored opponents 23-2, controlled possession but it was Atletico which was able to create the most significant opportunities. Antoine Griezmann had two clear chances denied by Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen early.
Saul Niguez gave the hosts the lead with a well-placed shot from outside the area in the first half. Suarez jumped between Atletico defenders to head in a cross by substitute Sergi Roberto.
“Good job from all the team in a complicated game,” Suarez said.
Two weeks after playing behind closed doors to protest the Spanish government’s moves to halt Catalonia’s independence referendum, Barcelona was met with Spanish flags, and outspoken defender Gerard Pique was loudly jeered by the local fans.
REAL MADRID RISE
Ronaldo was mostly subdued for Madrid until scoring the 85th-minute winner at Alfonso Perez Coliseum in southern Madrid.
After a perfect long pass by Isco, Ronaldo let the ball bounce and fired in for his first league goal of the season.
“We know that when we need Cristiano, he is always there for us,” Madrid left back Marcelo said.
Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Madrid with a great run into the area, getting past a defender with a quick touch before sending a low shot into the far corner. It was also his first league goal. The French striker was returning from injury.
Striker Jorge Molina equalized for the hosts early in the second half. Replays showed Molina was offside.
Getafe also conceded late goals in home losses to Sevilla and Barcelona. It dropped to 14th in the 20-team standings.
“We can’t allow this to keep happening,” Molina said of the late goals. “Maybe we shouldn’t have stayed only on defense, maybe we could have pressed a little bit more.”
A Ronaldo lookalike was detained by security guards in the first half after entering the pitch wearing Madrid’s uniform and approaching the Portugal forward.
WINNING AGAIN
Athletic edged Sevilla in Bilbao to snap a six-game winless streak in all competitions. Mikel Vesga scored the winner just before halftime at San Mames Stadium, where Sevilla lost for an eighth straight time.
RECOVERING REAL SOCIEDAD
Real Sociedad ended its five-game winless streak by beating Alaves with goals by Mikel Oyarzabal in the 77th and Aritz Elustondo in the 81st. Alaves, second-to-last in the standings, was coming off its first win of the season at Levante.
Before the match in the northern city of Vitoria, a fight between fans from Alaves and Racing Santander, which was playing a third-division match against Vitoria, left four people injured, including one which had to be hospitalized in an intensive care unit, according to Spanish media.
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