Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez Lead Barcelona Past 10-Man Atletico Madrid in La Liga

Barcelona needed two late goals to beat 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-0 at the Camp Nou on Saturday and go 11 points clear of them in La Liga with seven matches remaining.

Atletico's Diego Costa was sent off after 28 minutes after he angrily confronted referee Gil Manzano.

Jordi Alba hit the post early on with the Blaugrana's best chance of the first half after a world-class ball over the top of the defence from Lionel Messi.

After the break, Jan Oblak made a string of saves to deny Messi, Luis Suarez and Malcom until the former pair fired the Catalan giants to victory with two goals in the space of a minute.

It was going to take something special to beat Oblak, and Suarez duly provided it with five minutes of normal time remaining when he curled in a low shot from 20 yards.

Barca stunned Atletico again almost immediately when Messi raced through and tucked home after wriggling past defender Jose Gimenez.

The visitors have not beaten Barca in La Liga since 2010.

Coutinho Blew His Last Chance

Philippe Coutinho has spent much of the season struggling for form, but manager Ernesto Valverde has continued to persist with him.

It's understandable, given Barca splashed out an initial £105 million (€122 million) to prise him away from Liverpool in January 2018 following a sensational five-year spell on Merseyside.

However, the playmaker has continued to waste chance after chance to play himself into some form, and Saturday's performance was no exception.

Barca boss Ernesto Valverde gave him 80 minutes, but he struggled to justify his place in the starting lineup.

In the first half, he failed to convert two promising chances.

ESPN's Samuel Marsden and Barcelona blogger Kevin Williams felt he should have found the back of the net after latching onto a backheel from Suarez, but he was denied by Oblak:

Shortly after, he failed to trouble Oblak with a close-range header at the back post during a Barca counter-attack.

If the Brazilian's confidence was low before he failed to take the chances, it must have been rock-bottom after.

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone took off Santiago Arias and Filipe Luis for attackers Angel Correa and Alvaro Morata to give the visitors more threat after Costa was sent off.

That left midfielders Saul and Thomas Partey acting as improvised full-backs—an opportunity a player of Coutinho's talents would normally relish—but he still had little impact in the second half.

When Valverde brought on Malcom—who had contributed a goal and two assists in his previous two matches—the team had more pace and impetus.

Against Manchester United on Wednesday, he'd be a much more threatening choice.

What's Next 

Barcelona face Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday before returning to La Liga action against Huesca on Saturday, when Atletico will host Celta Vigo.