Barca have suffered a 1-0 defeat against Colchoneros at Wanda Metropolitano.
Atletico Madrid have extended their winning run in La Liga after adding Barcelona as their latest victims.
The hosts were inches away from opening the account when Marcos Llorente’s strike hit the post.
However, Atletico soon found the lead at the stroke of the half time, with Yannick Carrasco playing through the legs of onrushing Ter Stegen before finding the nets.
Barca’s performance was rather drab as they had only a few opportunities to test Jan Oblak. Antoine Griezmann could have become the hero for Barca and the villain for his former club but his header went straight into the hands of Oblak.
Notwithstanding, Ronald Koeman’s side were clueless about Atletico’s structured defence and counter-attacks.
Lionel Messi, who had a memorable game against Real Betis before the international break, was kept at bay by the Rojiblancos as he failed to inspire any magic.
Another worrying take away would be the injury extent of Gerard Pique as he was seen in agony when he was taken off the field.
Atletico, who have ended their 20-match winless streak against Barca, are now second in the table sharing the same points as Real Sociedad.
Elsewhere, Koeman’s managerial tactics have been questioned with each passing defeat and it remains to be seen how the Dutch gaffer would recover from this defeat as Barca will be playing in Champions League in no time.
