Leo Messi was back in Barcelona colours after he single-handedly secured World Cup qualification for Argentina with a stunning hat-trick against Ecuador.The Catalan La Liga leaders visited Atletico Madrid on Saturday night and the two sides played out an entertaining 1-1 draw.Barcelona had previously boasted a 100% record in all competitions since the Super Cup defeat against Real Madrid.Saul Niguez gave Atletico the lead with a brilliant goal before Luis Suarez equalised for Ernesto Valverde's side with an excellent header.Messi looked sharp throughout but - despite hitting the post - failed to get on the scoresheet.The 30-year-old Argentine superstar has been in sensational form and is the league's top scorer with eleven goals."Messi does what he did the other day [in Ecuador] permanently and we all expected him to deliver and he did," said Valverde. "Most of all I'm impressed with his permanent competitiveness and the responsibility he takes on his shoulders.
"You know that he is capable of deciding every game on his own and he always tries to. He wears the tag of being the best player in the world but he doesn't just carry it, he demonstrates it every single day. That takes a huge level of competitiveness."
Godin shows Messi how it's done
Atletico Madrid centre-back Diego Godin has been regarded as one of La Liga's finest defenders for a number of years.
However, the 31-year-old Uruguayan international is certainly not renowned for his skills.
Despite that, Godin channeled his inner Zidane by executing a perfect roulette on the edge of his own box to leave Messi wondering what on earth just happened.
Fans on Twitter definitely enjoyed watching Godin give Messi a lesson.
Real Madrid closed the gap at the top to five points on Saturday by beating Getafe 2-1 thanks to a late Cristiano Ronaldo winner.
Atletico are just one point behind their city rivals and their performance against Barcelona shows they're prepared to battle Spain's two most decorated clubs for the title.
Simeone will have even more firepower up front when club record signing Diego Costa becomes eligible to play from January.