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Still perfect: Messi comes off bench to give Barcelona win over Atletico

Javier Barbancho / Reuters

Rarely does Lionel Messi have to come off the bench to score the winning goal for Barcelona. He isn't a super sub. He's Messi.

But Saturday was one of those days.

Messi entered the match in the second half and needed little time to find the winner in a 2-1 victory over Atletico Madrid. It was his first strike in La Liga this season, and it came as he celebrated becoming a father for the second time.

Atletico first captured the lead after 52 minutes when Fernando Torres, who earned a surprise start, latched on to a defence-splitting pass from Tiago and dumped the ball past goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

It wasn't the first time Torres scored against Barcelona: he scored with Chelsea in 2012 to seal a place in the Champions League final and reopened his scoring account with Atletico against the Blaugrana in the Copa del Rey last season.

As much as the goal was an omen, it also seemed to kick Barcelona back into gear. After earning a free kick outside the box just three minutes later, Neymar decided to take one of the best free kicks of his career.

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The equaliser gave way to the eventual introduction of Messi, and Atletico didn't stand a chance after that.

"We have drawn level quickly, at a key moment. Then Messi came on and when the best is on the field, we all play better," Neymar said after the match.

Barcelona indeed took things up a notch, and it was Messi who played in Neymar for a chance that looked like a handball. But it didn't matter - with Messi on the field, a goal always comes.

In the 77th minute, the ball bounced around the tip of the box, eventually landing at the feet of Jordi Alba. It was simple tic-tac-toe from there: Alba to Luis Suarez to Messi for the finish.

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The win keeps Barcelona perfect after three games, and it also condemns Atletico to its first loss of the campaign.

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