Home Football Messi helps Barca go eight points clear at the top

Messi helps Barca go eight points clear at the top

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Barcelona 1-0 Atletico Madrid: Lionel’s Messi’s free-kick sends Barcelona eight clear at the top of La Liga.

Lionel Messi scored his 600th career goal as Barcelona moved eight points clear in LaLiga with a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou.

Messi converted his third free-kick in three consecutive La Liga matches in the 20th minute to secure a deserved victory against Atletico, who only had one shot on target at the Nou Camp on Sunday afternoon.

It was the third successive league game in which Messi has netted a direct free-kick – the first time he has achieved that feat – and Barca could have had more at the end of a first half in which Atletico failed to muster a shot on target.

Diego Simeone’s men pushed forward in the second half and had four forwards on the pitch for the last 30 minutes, but the visitors could not find a much-needed equaliser with Kevin Gamiero having his 85th-minute strike chalked off for offside.

The result leaves Barcelona comfortably sitting at the top of the table with 11 games of the La Liga season left to play. Atletico remain in second on 61 points and seven points ahead of third-placed rivals Real Madrid.

Barcelona travel to Malaga in La Liga on March 10. Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, host Lokomotiv Moscow in their Europa League last-16 first leg on Thursday night.

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