Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona: Score and Reaction from 2017 La Liga Match

Lionel Messi fired Barcelona to a 2-1 win over Atletico Madrid on Sunday, tallying a late goal to keep the Blaugrana alive in the La Liga title race.

Rafinha gave Barcelona the lead in the 64th minute after a balanced opening 45 minutes in which Atletico dominated early and the visitors had their chances late.

Diego Godin equalised six minutes later, but Messi found the winner four minutes from time to hand his club three points. With Real Madrid facing Villarreal later on Sunday, Barcelona momentarily took the lead in the standings.

As shared by Atletico's Twitter account, manager Diego Simeone kept Fernando Torres on the bench:

Barcelona coach Luis Enrique made a couple of surprise picks, starting Rafinha and Jeremy Mathieu:

Sportswriter Sid Lowe noted the home fans were surprisingly quiet before the opening whistle:

Los Rojiblancos quickly gave them a reason to get loud, however, as Yannick Carrasco nearly connected with a smart cross from Saul.

Minutes later, Godin went close to giving his side the lead, sending a volley inches over the bar after the visitors dealt poorly with a corner.

Messi tried to respond, shooting narrowly wide, although Jan Oblak had it covered. Atletico were in control early, while Barcelona inflicted limited damage through counter-attacks.

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Kevin Gameiro did well to lay the ball off to Gabi, who aimed his shot right at Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and Samuel Umtiti rectified his mistake after gifting Antoine Griezmann a chance with a poor clearance.

Griezmann put Ter Stegen to work after 27 minutes with a sensational shot, but the German was up to the challenge.

Per Kieran Canning of Agence France-Presse, the hosts had all the momentum, even if they hadn't played that well:

Luis Suarez had the ball in the net after 30 minutes, but the official called the goal back for a handball in the buildup. As the half wore on, the Blaugrana started taking charge of proceedings, with chances coming fast.

Ter Stegen did well to intercept a pass from Koke, and he saved a shot by the Spaniard minutes later, but most of the late opportunities fell to the visitors. Suarez couldn't find the target with a strike, and Oblak produced a fine save to stop a free-kick by Messi.

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Umtiti's rushed shot missed the mark, and Gerard Pique's smart header seemed destined for the net, with Oblak intervening just in time.

During the break, Canning noted an odd feature of the Estadio Vicente Calderon, Atletico's longtime home ground that is set to be replaced in the near future:

Suarez had an excellent chance to open the scoring four minutes into the second half, but he poked a shot well wide after great work by Neymar and Messi.

Carrasco was penalised for a slight push on Roberto, wasting a good opening, and Griezmann couldn't work the ball past Ter Stegen. Godin also threatened with a header, but after an hour of play, the score was still 0-0.

Rafinha finally found the breakthrough after 64 minutes, powering home following a mad scramble inside the box.

The goal wasn't pretty, and Lowe referenced Barcelona's usual style of play:

Carrasco then made way for Torres as Atletico went in search of an equaliser.

Just two minutes later, the hosts pulled level thanks to some dreadful defending by Barcelona. Sergio Busquets gave away a free-kick, and Godin headed home between three defenders.

Bleacher Report UK's Matt Jones isolated Busquets as the main culprit:

Gabi and Angel Correa ran into yellow cards soon after, and several substitutions delayed play even more, dragging all momentum out of the match.

Godin made a key tackle to deny Messi, who was booked shortly after for dissent. Things got a little more physical in the final minutes, with both teams desperate to find a winner.

It was Messi who came up huge just before full-time, firing home after his initial shot was blocked.

Jones wasn't surprised:

Four minutes of injury time gave the hosts a chance to equalise again, and Torres almost found the opening, but Pique cleared before time ran out for Los Rojiblancos.

As shared by football writer Dermot Corrigan, Simeone rued yet another missed opportunity against Barcelona, while Luis Enrique looked back on his difficult week:

Atletico's next outing will be against Deportivo La Coruna on Thursday, while Barcelona will host Sporting Gijon on Wednesday.