Barcelona overcome tough Atletico Madrid to go fourth

Dani Alves scored, assisted and then got sent off in a thrilling La Liga encounter between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which the Catalans won 4-2.

Both teams are struggling to keep pace with runaway league leaders Real Madrid, who are 15 points ahead of Barcelona. The result meant that Barcelona leapfrogged Atletico into fourth place.

Atletico opened the scoring first at the Camp Nou, taking the lead through a Yannick Carrasco strike off a pass from ex-Barcelona striker Luis Suarez.

Despite this early goal, Barcelona would dominate the rest of the first half. Jordi Alba volleyed in just one minute after Carrasco's goal from a Dani Alves cross, before Gavi (21st minute) and defender Ronald Araujo (43rd minute) put Xavi Hernandez's men in a commanding position.

Gavi's goal came from an Adama Traore cross. The Spanish winger is making his second debut at the club after his move from English side Wolverhampton. The other big signing of the month, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang also made his first appearance coming on as a second-half substitute.

The second-half began with Dani Alves smacking the ball past Jan Oblak in the 49th minute, to score his first goal on his return to Barcelona. The goal sparked wild scenes of celebration among the home crowd.

Nine minutes later, Suarez would pull a goal back against his former side heading the ball into the net from close range.

Despite the two-goal lead, Barcelona looked tentative for the rest of the game as Diego Simeone's Atletico pressed and pounded the Catalan defence.

Alves saw red as he planted his studs on Carrasco's leg with the ball nowhere near. His sending off and subsequent decisions going against Barcelona resulted in the home side's bench going wild and receiving several bookings.

Eventually, Barcelona prevailed as they continue to climb back into the top four after a disappointing start to the season.