More on that detail – Barcelona were composed and dominant from the start, the front three, who all scored, particularly devastating as the champions looked like getting shoved aside. That they didn’t is testament to their fighting abilities, and a dubious penalty, which cancelled out a handball missed before Suárez’s goal. Not that two wrongs make a right, of course.

By the time Atlético began to test Barcelona’s back four, the hosts’ front three had given them an advantage that could not be clawed back. Messi’s goal was a fitting finale on a night where even flanked by Neymar and Luis Suárez, the Argentinean was the star. Here, he always is. Don’t expect to see him in a Chelsea shirt any time soon.

Thanks for joining me. Bye!

92 mins: Suárez is off, replaced by Pedro. There’ll be a minute more of this. Bravo, who has looked sharp when required, makes an awful hash of a punch, but Alves clears. It’s too late now, anyway.

90 mins: Atlético slipped back into petulance before and after that goal, with Raul Garcia and Juanfran both unnecessarily beefing with Barcelona players. We’re now seeing an extended replay of the celebration, with Neymar, Suárez and Messi arm in arm, grinning goofily to the camera. Everything’s fine, everyone!

88 mins: Rakitic heads off after that semi-assist - he’s replaced by Rafinha. The Camp Nou is noisier than it’s been all night after Messi’s goal.

83 mins: A first chance in some time for Messi, who is picked out on the edge of the box by a wicked low cross from Neymar. Messi gets the ball on target, but it’s straight at Moya.

81 mins: Final change for Atlético, with Siquiera replacing Gamez. That should have happened after 15 minutes, although Gamez improved as the game went on – and of course, he won the penalty. Meanwhile, Diego Godin is booked for climbing all over compatriot Luis Suárez.

78 mins: Mandzukic, hemmed into a corner, is patience personified, eventually flicking the ball off Alba for a corner kick. From it, Barcelona clear, but Atlético are straight back at them, playing with so much more intensity in this half. Turan fools Iniesta with a brilliant backheel, Torres lashes the ball across goal, and Bravo has to be smart to clear away from Mandzukic. Atlético are knocking.

76 mins: A Barcelona move is broken up by Godin, and Atlético break. Mandzukic gets beyond Mascherano down the right hand side, and his cross towards Torres needs Bravo to be sharp, and he is, clutching the ball at the Spanish striker’s feet.

74 mins: Koke delivers into the appropriate area, but Pique nods clear. Raul Garcia is on, replacing Griezmann, who has been ineffectual. No changes for Barcelona - and their bench looks pretty thin.

72 mins: Rakitic is caught in possession, and as Suarez tries to shepherd the loose ball away from Mandzukic, he fouls the Croatian. Atlético have done a sterling job of turning up the heat, inch by inch, on the once comfortable hosts – and now Mascherano gives away a free kick on the right, well within crossing range. Can the visitors produce from a set piece once again?

69 mins: A lull, as both teams steel themselves for what could be a tense final twenty. Messi’s name has been repeatedly bellowed around the Camp Nou. If Enrique has indeed fallen out with his star player, you have to wonder what he’s thinking. A managerial team of Hristo Stoichkov, Johan Cruyff and Jimmy Jump would struggle to beat Messi in a popularity contest here.

66 mins: Messi hoofs the ball into the wall, the big galoot. Here comes Nando for Atlético, replacing Gabi. Torres has scored 8 goals in 11 games against Barcelona. I smell a goalgasm...

64 mins: That said, Messi is now angry (or angrier) after that dodgy penalty, and he shuffles menacingly with the ball close to the spot, before a prone Diego Godin blocks the cross. Neymar threatens to break through the Atlético back line, so Tiago takes one for the team, hauling him down and picking up a yellow card.

62 mins: Koke and Gabi have been neturalised so far by the hosts, but both are involved in freeing Juanfran down the right. From nowhere, there’s something in this game for Atlético...

58 mins: The temperature is rising, with Suárez booked for dissent after a penalty area challenge on Rakitic by Giminez is waved away. Immediately afterwards, Juanfran floors Neymar with another hearty challenge. No second yellow card for Juanfran. The referee is in danger of losing what grip he had on this game.

57 mins: The penalty, would you credit, was awarded for a Messi foul on Gamez. It must have been the left-back’s first trip into the Barcelona area, and as he shimmied gamely, Messi lightly tapped his ankle. There was a smidgeon of contact, but that looked very soft indeed. Game on, regardless.

52 mins: Barcelona stroke the ball around from front to back, before Arda upends Iniesta in a fit of pique. No sign of Plan B from Atlético, with the front two still operating a mile inside their own half.

50 mins: The visitors continue to flap in defence, and Juanfran is booked for a clumsy foul on Neymar. Barcelona can’t take advantage from the set piece, but nothing so far in this half suggests they’re about to lose their grip on this game.

47 mins: The visitors look to make an impact as Griezmann wins an early corner. Godin sends a looping header just over Bravo’s bar, under pressure from Busquets, who has been in control of anything and everything inside the Barcelona half so far.

Blow your whistle

The second half is underway. No changes for either team at half-time.

Don’t call it a comeback

While we await the second half, here’s a musical tribute to Messi’s efforts so far...

Your thoughts

Some interesting stuff in the inbox on a whirlwind first half. JR in Illinois, much like Simeone, is stewing over that handball:

So enthusiastic are La Liga referees to dish out cards for anything remotely resembling a handball, it’s hard to believe that Messi didn’t get one before their second goal.

Meanwhile, Charles Antaki has a different target for his annoyance:

Lovely stuff from Barcelona, but I’m still feeling grumpy about Rakitic. Against Elche he wildly misplaced at least four significant balls, and he’s racked up three here already. His audition for the role of Xavi is threatening to end with a don’t-call-us, we’ll-call-you.

Ouch. Rakitic has so far been average in an excellent team performance, which isn’t great.

And finally, Mark Turner sums up the first 45 minutes:

Lionel Messi’s rather good at association football.

What a peculiar half that was. Strange, in a way, because it was so routine - Messi, aided and abetted by his two strike partners, has torn through Atlético as he has done so many times before. After a week of turmoil and hearsay, Barcelona have delivered a heavy dose of business as usual.

As for Atlético, they avoided defeat against Barcelona six times last term, but Simeone will have to pull quite the rabbit from the hat to do so again. Plan A was a touch too passive, and since Neymar’s early game-changing goal, Plan B is yet to materialise.

44 mins: The home team continue to knock the ball around, running down to half time. Iniesta attempts a vertiginous up-and-down ball to Suarez, but the Uruguayan just can’t bring it under control. One minute of added time.

41 mins: Barcelona aren’t letting up, with Alves sending a lofted through ball towards Messi and Neymar. The former rather improbably gets a head to it, but it flashes wide.

39 mins: Messi continues his campaign of intimidation against Gamez, catching the full-back in the face with a stray hand and conceding a free kick. The crowd, for what it’s worth, seem content enough. Football fans, would you believe, can be fickle.

37 mins: They won’t lie down any time soon, but you have to wonder – what now for Atlético? Their usual tricks have been summarily undone by Barcelona, and more specifically Messi, and they seem to have already misplaced their heads.

33 mins: It’s all got too much for Mario Mandzukic, who boils over after an appeal from Busquets. The Croatian is booked for leaning into the Barcelona midfielder. It’s a decent summary of the game so far, with Atletico edgy throughout.

30 mins: I hate to pick on the guy, but Gamez at left-back, already on a booking, is a liability for the visitors. Messi is targeting him, and with plenty of success. Siqueira, Atletico’s usual left-back, is on the bench.

28 mins: Barcelona, with half an hour gone, have dominated this game - perhaps beyond even their expectations. Another quick break sees Suarez feed Neymar, who recovers from a poor first touch to find Messi. From there, Messi finds a tight shooting angle in a blur of movement, but Moya blocks. The only negative for the hosts so far is that it’s only one-nil.

26 mins: Atlético realise some kind of change is necessary, and commit numbers into the Barcelona half for the first time. They can’t break down an organised rearguard, and are almost caught by a breakaway.

23 mins: Barcelona’s front three have looked dynamic and dangerous so far, and Neymar should really have doubled his tally here. Suarez raids down the right and skips around Giminez, before looping a cross towards Neymar. He has a free header from an admittedly unorthodox ball, but puts it wide!

21 mins: Neymar is back after changing his rather bloodied sock, so no permanent damage done there. From the set piece, Alves curls a dangerous ball in, but neither Neymar nor Suarez can get a decisive touch.

20 mins: There was a lengthy break while Neymar dealt with his injury. As soon as play resumes, so does the kicking, and Gamez is first into the book with an amateurish hoof as Messi roars past him. He’s struggled so far.

15 mins: A couple of agricultural challenges from Atlético, as they try to stem the tide. First, Griezmann fells Messi, and then Giminez lunges at Neymar. No foul given, although Giminez’s leading foot catches the Brazilian square on the ankle. Neymar is bleeding, and is carried off – but he may be back.

12 mins: Moments after the goal, Messi picks out Jordi Alba, whose drilled shot is parried by Moya, with Suarez inches from the rebound. Atlético, it must be said, have been shaky at the back so far.

11 mins: Well, that was easy. Dani Alves found Messi with a forceful through ball, and he bewitched Godin with a quick turn and release across goal. Suárez rather fluffed his lines, but his mishit attempt deflected off Juanfran, and to the feet of Neymar, who beat Moyà easily. Crisis? Etc.

9 mins: Messi gets the first clear opening, and perhaps he should do better here. Neymar picks out the No10 with a simple ball, and Messi sidesteps Gamez easily, before firing low, but wide of the near post.

7 mins: Barcelona are able to dictate play across the halfway line, with the visitors sitting back in two banks of four. Even Griezmann and Mandzukic are within thirty yards of their own goal. Arda Turan gets a chance to test Alba on the break, but the full-back contains him well. A patient start from the hosts.

5 mins: Messi’s first involvement as he combines with Alves down the right, to little avail. Both will be keen to target Jesus Gámez, a right back making just his second league start – at left back.

3 mins: Neymar wins a corner, but Piqué, up from the back, obstructs Diego Godin. Free kick to Atlético, who are playing in an odd, two-tone silver away kit. Barcelona are in red and blue, as you’d expect.

1 min: Atlético start on the front foot, with Tiago and Griezmann probing the Barcelona back line, until the French forward is caught offside.

After a moment’s silence following the terror attacks in Paris, we’re ready to go. Anticipation = high.

No worries for Barcelona on the attendance front – the Camp Nou is packed to the rafters. How they’ll respond to their team, and their manager, is another story. Here’s Lou Roper on Luis Enrique:

I wonder if Barcelona employed criteria beyond club identification when they hired Luis Enrique as manager. The routinely lightweight Roma teams he sent out indicated that he was out of his depth there.

True enough, although you could argue that Atlético employed a manager whose best asset was his affinity to the club when they hired Simeone back in 2011. It was still a strange appointment by Barca, perhaps trying too literally to replicate their success under Guardiola. Enrique remains in charge though, for this game at least.

Ten minutes to go until we’re underway. This one is so finely poised; Atlético are the last team Luis Enrique would want to play when three points are essential (well, maybe second last), and there’s a feeling that Barcelona are there for the taking, against a team who thrive on a challenge - the harder, the better, as Diego Simeone himself has said. There’s still an awful lot of talent in that home team for Atlético to play their way through, though. As is often the case at Camp Nou, the home crowd will most definitely be a factor.

Barcelona team news

No great surprise to see Lionel Messi starting after being rested against Real Sociedad, with memorable results. He starts alongside Neymar and Luis Suárez. Substitutes and Atlético team news coming shortly.

Preamble

Has it only been a week since David Moyes so spectacularly hauled the rug out from under Barcelona? Directors dismissed, elections called, thin crowds grumbling through a midweek game, and manager Luis Enrique reportedly locked in a power struggle with the club’s crown jewel – a fight that can only have one winner.

It still feels like a major reach to imagine Lionel Messi at any other club, but if he ain’t happy, Barcelona ain’t happy – and heads will roll. Rumour has it that Enrique may not survive even if Barcelona win tonight - anything less, and the writing would appear to be on the wall.

Unbeaten in six against the might of Barcelona last term, Atlético famously reduced the Camp Nou crowd to bewildered applause in May, after sealing the title with a 1-1 draw. Yet their seemingly impossible victory in a league built to serve the big two has changed little; Atlético are currently third, four points behind Real and level with tonight’s opponents, but are once again far from the headlines.

A second straight title for Madrid’s other team is a distinct possibility, yet even with prodigal son Fernando Torres returning, they remain a sideshow to the circus that has unfurled at Barcelona since last Sunday. That, of course, is just how Diego Simeone and his team like it.

Kick-off is at 8pm, and one way or another, there will be fireworks.

Good evening. Niall will be here shortly. Until then, here’s Sid Lowe on the trouble that may find Barcelona if they lose once again against Atlético:

The last time Diego Simeone was at the Camp Nou, back in May of last year, the Atlético Madrid manager was applauded by the home fans. The last time Barcelona’s manager, Luis Enrique, was at the Camp Nou, on Thursday, he was whistled by the home fans. On Sunday night they meet again, seven months on. For Barcelona there could hardly be a worse opponent: this is a club in crisis with a manager staring into the abyss while behind him they wait to nudge him over the edge.

Atlético and Barcelona met six times last season. Atlético did not lose any of them: they knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League and on the final day took the La Liga title. If that run continues, the consequences in Catalonia are likely to be even more dramatic – and they have been dramatic already. This is one of Spain’s biggest games, a fascinating match, yet it has become one where the focus will be on the bench, the directors’ box and the stands as well as the pitch.

You can read the full article here.