Messi scores late as Barcelona beats Atletico 1-0 in Copa
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Lionel Messi finished off his own missed penalty with five minutes left to give Barcelona a 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak blocked Messi initial spot kick, but he couldn't recover in time to stop Messi from rushing forward to slam home the rebound and ignite the Camp Nou.
Messi was set up to get the winner after Atletico defender Juanfran Torres fouled Sergio Busquets in the area.
This is the second victory for Barcelona over Diego Simeone's side in 10 days following its 3-1 win here in the league. Atletico went undefeated in six meetings with Barcelona last season en route to winning the league and reaching the Champions League final.
The return leg at the Vicente Calderon will be next Wednesday, with the winner of this series advancing to meet either Villarreal or Getafe.
Villarreal beat Getafe 1-0 after midfielder Bruno Soriano also scored with five minutes to play when he curled home a free kick.
Elsewhere, Athletic Bilbao drew 0-0 at Malaga. The winner of that contest will move on to face Sevilla or Espanyol, which play on Thursday.
Despite dominating possession and giving Atletico just one clear scoring chance, the match appeared to be heading to a frustrating draw for Barcelona as time ticked down.
But Barcelona got the refereeing decision it had been clamoring for, and Messi got the second chance he needed to seize the advantage.
Barcelona provided a flash of what it does best just four minutes after kickoff, when Messi and Dani Alves worked a mesmerizing one-two before Luis Suarez laid the off for Neymar to draw a one-handed save from Oblak.
Atletico then imposed a slower pace and got what it wanted: A number of set pieces that it usually excels at executing. However, it had to settle for Antoine Griezmann's header over the top in the 35th minute for its only clear chance of the night.
Suarez had a golden opportunity a minute later. But as so often in his first season at Barcelona, the Uruguay forward ended up falling to his knees and hiding his face in his hands after he sent Ivan Rakitic's superb lobbed pass over the bar from inside the six-yard box.
The counterattacking connection between Griezmann and Fernando Torres had proven key in eliminating Real Madrid in the round of 16, and the two almost linked up again on the break in the 41st - only for Gerard Pique to intercept Torres' pass.
In the second half, Barcelona was able to increase the tempo and control of the ball with Messi leading the way down the right side. Its only reward, though, was Andres Iniesta's shot into Oblak's arms in the 74th, and its frustrations with the referee earned Suarez and Javier Mascherano bookings for protesting.
But it was soon the turn of Atletico's players to argue when the whistle blew after Busquets went down, having been fouled from behind by Torres in a scrum for the ball after Messi's free kick had hit the defensive wall.
Oblak guessed that Messi intended to strike the resulting spot-kick to the goalie's left side. But Messi was the quickest to the ball to take the victory with his 29th goal in all competitions this season.