Atletico denied long-awaited win over Barca

Atletico Madrid came within a whisker of their first league win over Barcelona in eight years on Saturday only for Ousmane Dembele to dash their hopes with a dramatic equaliser in injury-time.

Diego Costa looked to have won a dreary contest at the Wanda Metropolitano when he headed in his first La Liga goal since February with 12 minutes left, as Atletico prepared to go top of the table with a long-awaited victory.

Instead, Barca produced another fightback as Dembele, on as a substitute, slid home a cool finish in the 90th minute to earn the visitors a 1-1 draw.

The relief was palpable in the celebrations of the luminous yellow shirts in the corner but perhaps just as grateful were Real Madrid, beaten 3-0 by Eibar earlier in the day.

Santiago Solari had proven the perfect caretaker but his debut as permanent coach ended in a disastrous, and deserved, defeat at Ipurua.

Madrid's only consolation was that neither Atletico nor Barca were able to secure the win that would have pulled them a further three points away.

Costa almost had it, scoring his first goal in 18 league games to surely end Atletico's winless run against Barca in the league, which stretches back to February 2010.

But Dembele, dropped by coach Ernesto Valverde for the defeat to Real Betis before the international break, proved his worth by applying a clinical finish when it mattered most.

The opening 45 minutes were almost entirely forgettable, distinguished solely by the fact it was the only time this season that a first half had failed to witness a single shot on target.

Gerard Pique went closest to scoring when he almost wafted a clearance into his own net. Messi rifled a free-kick over the bar and that was that, a half of few chances perhaps more a triumph for Atletico than Barcelona.

Griezmann finally injected some urgency on the hour, robbing the ball off Arthur Melo before leaving Samuel Umtiti for dead. Costa was just short of finishing the cutback.

Atletico wanted a penalty when the ball struck Arturo Vidal's arm but the video assistant referee decided it was not deliberate. The frustration spurred Atleti on and in the 77th minute they scored, Griezmann's corner drifting its way to the back post where Costa headed in.

But Dembele instigated the comeback against Rayo Vallecano last month and did the same again here as the ball spilled out to the 21-year-old at the back post. He took one touch inside, before firing it into the net.