Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone said that Barcelona's "great quality in the penalty areas" had again proved decisive after Sunday evening's 1-2 La Liga defeat at home to the Blaugrana outfit.
Atletico dominated for long periods in the first half, with Yannick Carrasco and Antoine Griezmann missing chances, but went behind soon after half-time through Rafinha's scrambled effort.
Then although Diego Godin quickly equalised with a trademark header, Lionel Messi popped up for an 87th-minute winner which put Barca temporarily ahead of Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga standings.
Simeone has still never come out on top of Barcelona in 11 league meetings, and were also eliminated from the Copa del Rey by the Catalans last month despite dominating for much of the two-legged semifinal. The Argentine told his postmatch news conference at the Calderon that it had been a familiar story with his team staying in the game but unable to find a way to win.
"It has happened in other games too," Simeone said. "This 1-2 has become the usual score, unfortunately, especially in La Liga. They have hurt us in the same way other times. In all the games there is the feeling we could win, but they have shown their quality in the most important places, the penalty areas, which is decisive."
Simeone denied that his team were tired following their 4-2 Champions League win at Bayer Leverkusen midweek, and said his team had competed well during what had been a pretty even encounter.
"It has been five days since Germany, so I do not see that as issue," Simeone said. "We were very good in the first half, looking for a goal to make the game more comfortable for us, which did not happen. The second half was much more even, [Luis] Suarez and Griezmann had chances. Their first goal came, then Godin scored. At the end whoever made a mistake would lose, there was a play with lots of rebounds in our area, and they took advantage."
Atletico now look well out of the title race, and are seven points behind third-placed Sevilla in the race for the final automatic Champions League qualification spot.
"The [Atletico] fans should be relaxed," Simeone said. "This changes nothing from the objective we have always had since I have been here [as coach]. We just think about [their next games against Deportivo] La Coruna, Valencia, Granada and to get to the last five games of the season and see what objectives are closest for us."