Barcelona: Víctor Valdés; Dani
Alves, Busquets (Piqué 54'), Mascherano, Abidal (Maxwell 81'); Thiago,
Xavi, Fábregas (Keita 71'); Pedro, Messi, David Villa. 4-3-3.
Atlético: Courtois; Perea, Miranda, Godín,
Antonio López; Mario Suárez (Turan 46'), Gabi, Tiago
(Adrián 81'); Reyes (Salvio 46'), Falcao, Diego. 4-3-3.
Goals:
1-0. 09. David Villa. Controlled Xavi pass on chest
and rounded Miranda to score.
2-0. 15. Miranda (own goal). Deflected ball
in after Courtois saved from Messi.
3-0. 26. Messi. Cut in from right wing
past two defenders and shot inside near post.
4-0. 78. Messi. Picked up
ball in midfield and ran round four defenders to score.
5-0. 91. Messi. Ran
on to Villa's return pass and fired shot under legs of keeper.
Yellow cards: Piqué 70', Perea 71'.
Barcelona beat Atlético Madrid 5-0 on Saturday evening to move back up to second spot, a point above their rivals Real Madrid in the table. This fixture always produces goals, and Atlético were expected to put up a good fight after their recent run of form. However Tiago's early shot against the bar was just about all they could muster, and with nine minutes on the clock Villa chested on Xavi's long pass and rounded Miranda to open the scoring. Pedro went close before Miranda could only deflected the ball past Courtois after the keeper saved a shot from Messi, and later in the first half Messi made it three after picking up Pedro's return pass from his throw-in to run on and shoot inside the near post. After the break the one-way traffic continued, Courtois saving well from Messi and Villa before Messi produced another magic run to score his second of the night. And although Adrián finally tested Valdés as Atlético woke up late on, Messi drove the final nail in the coffin after running on to Villa's return pass to drill a shot under the legs of the keeper.