Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid 3-1: La Liga – as it happened

This is it for our live coverage of Barcelona against Atletico Madrid.

It is another huge win for Hansi Flick’s defending La Liga champions. It is also a hammer blow to Atletico’s title chances as their seven-game winning run comes to an end.

Join us for Real Madrid’s attempt at Bilbao on Wednesday to close the gap to just a point on the leaders, and don’t forget we’ll also bring you live coverage of the FIFA 2026 World Cup draw on Friday.

For now, though – from me, Kevin Hand, and Patrick Keddie – it’s goodnight.

Barca’s three goals against Atletico mean they have not failed to score fewer than three goals in their five-game winning run in La Liga.

They hit both Athletic Bilbao and Celta Vigo for four during the run; Elche and Alaves were both hit for three.

Click here to read our match report following Barcelona’s 3-1 win against Atletico.

This was Barca’s fifth consecutive La Liga win after losing the Clásico against Madrid in October.

It also puts last Tuesday’s 3-0 Champions League defeat by Chelsea behind them, as the win against Atletico hands Barca back-to-back wins in all competitions following the weekend’s win at Alaves.

Before they entertain Atletico on Saturday, Atletico Bilbao face the daunting task of entertaining Real Madrid at 7pm (18:00 GMT) on Wednesday.

We’ll bring you all the action from that game. Join us if you can, and don’t forget our extensive three hours of build-up ahead of each match.

Atletico travel to Athletic Bilbao on Saturday. The host side are mid-table, with six wins and six defeats from 14 games – one fewer than Atletico have currently played.

Barcelona travel to Real Betis on Saturday in a game that we will bring you live on Al Jazeera.

Betis are fifth, 13 points off the leaders, but with a game in hand.

“The important thing is to believe in the work. We know this can happen in a lot of games [falling behind], but we are prepared to come from behind,” the Barcelona captain told Movistar.

“We work for this, and this is the spirit we need to have. These are things that can happen in football. We conceded, but we have to keep our heads to come back. We knew what could happen in this game, but we had to be prepared.

“The better we press further up the pitch, the closer we are to the opponent’s goal, and we have to do more of that.

“I feel good, and I’m still looking for the best physical version of myself. It was a very physical game, and that is why I asked to come off.

“We are picking up our confidence. We knew this was a key game. Three points are very important and could decide the league. They are very important these games, like every game.”

“We had two really good chances, but in the last second, they scored, and we saw our really good run come to an end,” the Atletico keeper told Movistar.

“We needed to score more goals. Barcelona played well today and had lots of chances. We had two chances to equalise, but it wasn’t possible.

“Their inside play was causing us problems. They managed to find the spaces, and they caused us lots of problems.”

Barca move clear of Real, who have Wednesday’s game in hand, and six points clear of Atletico, who sit fourth.

Villarreal are five points off the leaders in third; they too have a game in hand.

The Atletico manager is quickly down the tunnel, with his opposite number, Hansi Flick, barely catching him for a handshake.

The Argentinean clearly is not happy with his side. The German, on the other hand, will be delighted after a stern test.

There was barely time for the restart for Atletico after Barcelona’s third.

A brilliant match, edged for sure by Barca. The away side will lick their wounds after a number of spurned chances.

Rashford releases Balde on the left, who crosses for Ferran to finish with a control and flick all-in-one action from close range.

90+6 mins: Barcelona 3-1 Atletico Madrid

A corner is won on the right, but the effort is bent out of play before reaching the back post. They won’t get many more chances.

90+5 mins: Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid

The loanee from Manchester United races into the box from the left and draws a fine save with his feet from Oblak.

90+4 mins: Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid

Atletico break into the left edge of the box, and the drag back finds the Frenchman, who scuffs his effort to the corner flag when the net should have bulged.

90+3 mins: Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid

The corner is cleared by Rashford at the near post, but Atletico win back possession. Hancko remains forward and swings a wild effort over the bar from the edge of the box.

90+1 mins: Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid

The final 10 minutes of normal time have turned into a midfield battle, but for Almada’s big moment.

Atletico do win a corner on the right, though. The charge surely begins now.

89 mins: Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid

Christensen replaces Yamal as the home side look to shut up shop.

87 mins: Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid

The away side are attempting to up the tempo again. More bodies are being pushed forward, but it may leave them vulnerable to the counter.

83 mins: Barcelona 2-1 Atletico Madrid