Suarez salvages draw at Atletico to keep Barca unbeaten

Barcelona forward Luis Suarez preserved his side's unbeaten record by scoring a late header to snatch a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid as the Liga leaders' perfect start to the season ended on Saturday. 

Saul Niguez gave Atletico the lead in the 21st minute with a thumping low drive into the bottom corner, beating Marc-Andre ter Stegen after the German goalkeeper had twice thwarted Antoine Griezmann. 

Lionel Messi had threatened to give Barca the lead less than 30 seconds into the game at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium, which was packed with Spain flags as tensions from Catalonia's banned referendum on independence continued to be felt. 

The Argentine ripped through Atletico's defence only to see his shot squirm wide but the home side managed the first half better, soaking up Barca's pressure and carefully plotting their counter-attacks. 

The visitors were much improved after the break, however. Messi clanged the crossbar from a free kick and inexplicably missed the target from close range while Suarez was denied by Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak. 

The Uruguayan goaded the home fans after deservedly pulling Barca level in the 82nd minute, putting his finger to his lips and cupping his ears in response to critics of his lacklustre start to the season. 

Barca top the standings with 22 points but their lead over Real Madrid was cut to five as Zinedine Zidane's side moved above Atletico, who are third on 16, after winning 2-1 at Getafe earlier on Saturday.

Barca met with wash of Spanish flags in Madrid

Atletico Madrid ultras waved hundreds of Spanish flags and shouted "Viva Espana" (long live Spain) ahead of their clash with Barcelona on Saturday in a match laced with political tension amid Catalonia's drive for independence. 

The game is Barca's first trip to the Spanish capital since an independence referendum, deemed illegal by the Spanish government, was marred by violence on October 1. 

Police seized ballot papers and clashed with voters leaving 92 injured, among nearly 900 who sought medical attention. 

Barca's last match on the day of the referendum was played behind closed doors as a protest by the club to the shocking scenes across Catalonia. 

Only 250 tickets have been made available to away fans at Atletico's new 68,000 capacity Wanda Metropolitano. 

A number of Barca players including outspoken defender Gerard Pique and captain Andres Iniesta wore a training top in the colours of the Seynera Catalan flag in the warm-up. 

Pique has vehemently defended Catalonia's right to self-determination, but never declared himself to be in favour of independence. 

However, a week on from being jeered whilst playing for Spain, Pique was also met with chants of "Spain is your nation" from the Atletico ultras.

Late Ronaldo winner rescues Real at Getafe

Cristiano Ronaldo struck his first La Liga goal of the season five minutes from time to save Real Madrid from losing more ground in the title race with a hard-fought 2-1 win at Getafe on Saturday. 

Real looked on course for a comfortable three points when Karim Benzema fired the visitors into a deserved half-time lead. 

However, Jorge Molina's equaliser early in the second half and an incredible miss by Ronaldo left the European champions needing a late saviour. 

And Ronaldo rode to the rescue and made amends for his earlier profligacy with an accurate volleyed finish into the far corner. 

Victory takes Real up to second and within five points of Barcelona, who drew their match against Atletico Madrid later on Saturday.

"The game is 90 minutes long and we know that we can score at any moment," said Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane. 

"The first 10 minutes of the second-half caused us problems, but with time and patience we know we could turn the game around and that's what we did." 

Despite being shorn of Gareth Bale, Dani Carvajal and Keylor Navas through injury and illness, Zidane surprisingly left Luka Modric and Isco on the bench after their exertions on international duty and with one eye on Tuesday's Champions League clash against Tottenham Hotspur. 

However, that decision backfired as once again Zidane's men produced a lacklustre performance in La Liga. 

Real dropped points at home to Valencia, Levante and Real Betis to allow Barcelona to open up a seven-point gap at the top of the table and even failed to find their top form in seeing off Alaves and Espanyol in recent weeks. 

Part of Madrid's problem has been Ronaldo's poor league form since returning from an early season five-game suspension. 

Ronaldo's first effort did at least produce a stunning save from Vicente Guaita as he drove Benzema's neat layoff goalward from the edge of the box. 

Guaita was left helpless six minutes before half-time, though, when Benzema latched onto Ronaldo's pass and kept his composure to fire low into the far corner for his first league goal of the season. 

Getafe had barely threatened before levelling in fortunate circumstances 11 minutes into the second half when Molina bundled home Francisco Portillo's low cross despite appearing to be in an offside position. 

The equaliser awoke Real from their second-half slumber and Guaita produced another great double save to block at Ronaldo's feet before tipping Marcelo's follow-up effort over. 

Ronaldo drilled a free-kick just wide, but his embarrassing moment was still to come 17 minutes from time. 

With the goal at his mercy as the ball rebounded into his path from a free-kick, the Portuguese somehow skewed wide at the far post. 

Zidane threw on Isco, Theo Hernandez and Borja Mayoral from the bench in the search for a winner. 

And it was Isco who provided the inspiration as his through ball released Ronaldo to finally break his duck in La Liga for the season by firing into the far corner. 

Getafe could still have salvaged a point in stoppage time when Mehdi Lacen's shot flew inches over with Real 'keeper Kiko Casilla stranded. 

Real jump into second thanks to Sevilla's 1-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao earlier on Saturday as Mikel Vesga got the only goal two minutes before half-time.