Fernando Torres fired Atletico Madrid into the lead in the 25th minute after Koke’s pass split the defence. Barca were rocking on their heels and Gerard Pique wore a bemused look. Diego Simeone’s side had succeeded magnificently in disrupting Barca’s metronomic passing with their incessant high pressing. It seemed all so promising but these intense encounters are never far from a momentary lapse of reason or two. Torres barely four minutes after his goal chopped Neymar down and then minutes later ran into Sergio Busquets to earn a double booking and he was gone. 10 man Atletico then survived a barrage in the second half with Messi coming close with a sublime scissor kick and Neymar’s strike crashing off the upright.

The pressure was relentless and finally the defence breached as Luis Suarez stuck a leg out to deflect Jordi Alba’s shot which was going wide into goal. The Uruguayan was again on point lashing Dani Alves’s cross with his head past Jan Oblak for his eighth Champions League goal. The question was whether Suarez should have been on the pitch at all? He was lucky he wasn’t sent off with a straight red after what appeared to be violent conduct at Juanfran in the first half.

Atletico scored a vital away goal but Barca in a familiar story came back to win, their third 2-1 scoreline in a row and their seventh successive victory. The second leg in the Vicente Calderon should be to put it mildly, entertaining.

Fernando Torres goal: