Barcelona struck a potentially decisive blow in La Liga’s title race with a 4-2 win against Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano. Diego Simeone’s home team went ahead through Julian Alvarez in the 45th minute — with the Argentina forward banishing memories of his ‘two-touch’ penalty in Atletico’s Champions League round-of-16 exit to Real Madrid in midweek.

Barcelona and Atletico Madrid played out a fascinating 4-4 draw last month in Catalonia as they locked horns in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final tie.They face each other once again on

First it was a penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid in the round of 16 in the Champions League last Wednesday, and four days later a 4-2 defeat against Barcelona in the Spanish league after Diego Simeone's team had led 2-0 midway through the second half.