Lionel Messi came off the bench to score the winner as Barcelona maintained their 100% record in La Liga by beating Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Vicente Calderon.

The big news prior to the first whistle was the omission of Messi from the Barcelona side after he missed training this week due to Argentina's trip to the USA and to attend the birth of his child.

It did not seem to affect the visitors in the early stages as they created an opportunity through Andres Iniesta, whose clever pass allowed Ivan Rakitic to test Jan Oblak with a powerful effort.

Atletico were keen to keep men behind the ball for much of the first half, but they were almost gifted the lead against the run of play when Fernando Torres intercepted Javier Mascherano's poor pass before shooting over.

The chance was a rare moment of promise for the Atletico attack before the interval, and the hosts somehow managed to avoid falling behind when an unmarked Luis Suarez struck the crossbar from close range after Rakitic had flicked on a corner.

Suarez and Neymar were at the hear of most Barcelona attacks, but there was frustration for the former when the Brazilian ignored his teammates before seeing two efforts blocked in the box.

The champions were punished for not turning pressure into a goal as Atletico broke the deadlock early in the second half when Tiago's through ball allowed Torres to sprint clear and he remained composed in the box to slot past Ter Stegen.

However, the lead did not last long as Neymar took advantage of Messi still being on the bench to curl home a stunning free kick just over three minutes after Atletico's opener.

Messi's inevitable introduction soon arrived and the Argentine was immediately influential as he combined with Neymar, who was denied a goal by Diego Godin's superb clearance off the line.

There was more to come from Messi as he made the impact Luis Enrique was desperate for by handing Barcelona the lead with 13 minutes of normal time remaining.

Atletico twice missed the opportunity to clear the danger and when Gabi lost possession on the edge of his own box, the ball was delivered to Suarez, whose inch-perfect layoff allowed Messi to find the bottom corner.

The four-time Ballon d'Or winner almost added another in the closing stages, but he sent a half-volley over the crossbar from the edge of the box as Barcelona finished strongly to collect all three points in the capital.