Lionel Messi nets perfect free kick in Barcelona's win vs. Atletico Madrid

March 4 (UPI) -- Lionel Messi drilled the upper right corner of the net on a free kick in Barcelona's 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid Sunday at Camp Nou in Barcelona.

The attempt was pure class from the best player on the planet. Messi earned the foul after being taken down by Thomas Partey 25 yards away from the goal.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner stepped up and eyed a wall of yellow Atletico jerseys blocking the net. He booted the ball with his left foot, chipping the defenders. The ball bent and drifted into the right corner of the net, beating a diving Jan Oblak in the 26th minute.

The score gave Messi No. 600 for his club and country career. Barca went into the half with the 1-0 edge and would not give up a goal for the remainder of the La Liga affair.

Luis Suarez had a goal waived off in the 78th minute after an obvious offside. Sergio Busquets almost put in another Barca goal in the 80th minute, but his volley from the left side was denied by Oblak. Athletico appeared the even the score in the 86th minute when Kevin Gameiro hammered in a feed from Diego Costa with a volley past Marc-Andre ter Stegen. But the shot was waived off due to an offside penalty.

Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta left the game after 34 minutes due to a hamstring injury in his right leg. He was replaced by Andre Gomes.

Atletico had been closing the gap on Barcelona in the La Liga standings entering the match. After the win, Barcelona still sits at the top of the table with 69 points, while Atletico has 61 points.

"Leagues are won by suffering and beating rivals such as Atlético Madrid. We will try to ensure that the eight point gap isn't closed, but increases," Busquets said after the game, according to FCBarcelona.com.

Barcelona battles Malaga at 2:45 p.m. in another La Liga bouth on Saturday before resuming its Champions League series against Chelsea at 3:45 p.m. on March 14 at Camp Nou.

"It was a very even match, like the one in the first half of the season," Atletico manager Diego Pablo Simeone said in his postgame news conference. "They had a good first half and in the second, we reacted well and did what we could to try to score the equalizer."