Barcelona - Atlético: All to play for at Camp Nou, says Roberto
Barcelona escaped with a remarkable 4-4 draw against Villarreal and can tighten their grip on LaLiga when they face Atlético Madrid.
Sergi Roberto wants Barcelona to treat Saturday's LaLiga showdown against Atlético Madrid like a final.
Barça staged a dramatic late comeback at Villarreal on Tuesday, escaping with a 4-4 draw despite entering the final minute of the match 4-2 down.
10-point lead trimmed to eight ahead of Atlético clash
It means the gap at the summit to Atleti stands at eight points with eight matches to play and Roberto acknowledged a 2-0 win for Diego Simeone's side over Girona had placed a little pressure on his team-mates.
"We knew Atlético had won and we looked to get a point until the end, the point is good and we will play for it all on Saturday," the right-back said, as quoted by Sport.
"We want LaLiga, then the Champions League and the Copa del Rey. Now it's about LaLiga and against Atlético it will be a vital game, a final. If we get the win it will be very important for us."
Ernesto Valverde's men raced into a 2-0 lead at the Estadio de la Cerámica thanks to goals from Philippe Coutinho and Malcom, but Samuel Chukwueze got an enterprising Villarreal on the scoresheet and Karl Toko Ekambi capitalised on a Marc-André Ter Stegen error to equalise early in the second half.
Vicente Iborra and Carlos Bacca looked to have secured a famous triumph for the relegation-threatened hosts, but Lionel Messi came off the bench to net a stunning free-kick and Luis Suárez stole a point deep into stoppage time.
"[It was a] crazy game," Roberto added. "It seemed like it would be comfortable for us but they are fighting against relegation. At 4-2 down we went for it and we got a point."