Suarez earns Barca point at Atletico, Ronaldo rescues Real Madrid

Luis Suarez broke the unbeaten record of the Barcelona League this season by avoiding a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid on Saturday in a match marked by political tension in the middle of the race for the independence of Catalonia. The spectacular blow of Saúl Niguez gave Atletico an early advantage.

However, Barça's dominance for the great spells was worth it when Suarez finally beat the excellent Jan Oblak nine minutes from the end.

"Everybody knows that Atlético defends very well and has an excellent goalkeeper, but we have done enough to believe that we deserve more in the second half," said Suarez.

A share of points allows Real Madrid to climb to second place, five points behind Barça. Cristiano Ronaldo scored at 85 minutes, his first league goal of the season, to win a hard-fought 2-1 on Barça. European Champions in Getafe.

Atlético moves to third place, but remains six points behind the leaders.

"It was a fantastic match between two teams with very different characteristics," said Diego Simeone, Atlético boss.

At the bottom of the Spanish flags and the songs of "Viva España" (long life in Spain) he met Barça during his first visit to the Spanish capital since the Catalan referendum on independence contaminated by violence and considered illegal by the Spanish Government on October 1.

However, both managers praised the atmosphere.

"The stadium was wonderful," added Simeone.

"I loved the stadium, the fans (the mockery of the opposition) are normal, but it was a great night of football for everyone," said Barça boss Ernesto Valverde.

The 68,000 spectators of the new Wanda Metropolitan of the Athletic one almost were silenced in 30 seconds by Lionel Messi.

The five times world player of the year saved the qualification campaign for the World Cup in Argentina with a magnificent hat-trick in Quito, Ecuador, on Tuesday, to ensure its presence in next year's event in Russia.

'Extraordinary' Messi

And Messi almost made another solo effort to add to his 17 goals for the club and the country this season, as he defeated a series of Atletico challenges before shooting on the net.

"Messi was amazing, every time the ball went by, there was a danger," said Simeone.

Barça defender Gerard Piqué, a staunch supporter of Catalonia's right to self-determination, scoffed every time he touched the ball.

However, Antoine Griezmann also took Pique to distraction, as he hinted at the Spanish international to reduce him to the goal, which did not allow him to deprive himself of a surprising stop of Ter Stegen.

The German forward was helpless in the 21st minute when Saul snuck inside his supposedly weaker right foot before firing a shot into the bottom corner of 20 meters.

Barça dominated the possession, but had to wait until 10 minutes after the break to force Oblak to stop when Suárez stung Slovenian hands from outside the area.

A few seconds later, Messi sent a free kick curling to the outside of the post and then gave his best shot of the match 19 minutes from time.

However, after another exceptional rescue from Oblak to deny Suárez, Barça's pressure was rewarded when Sergi Roberto picked an unmarked Suarez at the back post and his down head had too much power for Oblak.

And Suarez should have won the match two minutes from the end when he could not connect with Andre Gomes' mock crusade.

Previously, Ronaldo went to Real's rescue and made amends for his previous waste with a late winner. "The match lasts 90 minutes and we know we can score at any moment," Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane said.

Madrid seemed to be moving towards three comfortable points when Karim Benzema dismissed the visitors in a deserved advantage at half-time. However, Jorge Molina struck a controversial tie 11 minutes into the second half when he looked offside as he shot from close range.

Ronaldo then missed an incredible opportunity by tying the goal at his mercy before catching the winner. Sevilla fell to fourth place thanks to a 1-0 defeat at Athletic Biilbguardianao. Mikel Vesga scored the only goal of the match.