Atletico stop Barca in their tracks

Atletico Madrid lived up to their reputation as Barcelona's bogey team when they ended the Spanish champions' 14-match winning run in the league with an emphatic 3-1 victory at the Nou Camp last night.

A classy double from Fernando Torres, which took the striker's tally to six goals in four games against Barca, and another from in-form Argentine Maxi Rodriguez allowed Atletico to complete the double over the Catalans this season.

Last season Atletico were the only team to beat Barca at the Nou Camp and they also held them to a 1-1 draw in Madrid.

The victory, Atletico's third in a row, provided further confirmation of their revival under new coach Pepe Murcia, who replaced Carlos Bianchi last month.

The defeat ended a miserable week for Frank Rijkaard's side, who were knocked out of the King's Cup by Real Zaragoza.

However, with their only defeats coming against Atletico this season, Barca still enjoy a handsome nine-point lead over Valencia at the top of the table.

Valencia extended their unbeaten league run to 11 matches after a stunning 45-metre strike from leading scorer David Villa gave them a 1-0 win at Deportivo Coruna on Saturday.

Real Madrid, who beat Espanyol 4-0 on Saturday, are third, a further point behind.

Earlier yesterday Real Betis striker Dani scored a hat-trick but ended up on the losing side when his team went down 4-3 at Real Zaragoza.

The win pushed Zaragoza up to ninth place and will provide a valuable boost before the King's Cup semi-final against Real Madrid.