Atletico Madrid became the surprise table topper Sunday after beating Valencia 2-0 following a thrilling day of La Liga action which saw champion Barcelona lose 4-3 at Celta Vigo and Real Madrid held to a 1-1 draw at home to minnow Eibar. Barca had the chance to go top after Real drew a fourth consecutive game in all competitions for the first time in over a decade but it was rattled by rampant Celta which capitalized on a litany of mistakes from Luis Enrique's side. The Barca coach rotated his team after the hard-fought 2-1 win at Borussia Moenchengladbach in the Champions League Wednesday, leaving experienced defender Javier Mascherano out and starting without midfield maestro Andres Iniesta. His side paid dearly for the changes and fell behind to Pione Sisto's low strike in the 22nd minute after an uncharacteristic mistake by midfielder Sergio Busquets. Iago Aspas finished off a quick counter to double the home side's advantage in the 31st and two minutes later Barca was hit again, Jeremy Mathieu bundling into his own net. Iniesta came on at the start of the second half to mark his 600th appearance for Barca and nearly engineered a dramatic turnaround, assisting Gerard Pique's headed goal and helping to win a penalty which Neymar coolly converted. Barca was quickly on the back foot again, however, following an embarrassing error by goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, which kicked the ball against Pablo Hernandez and watched it go straight into the net in the 77th minute. Pique reduced the deficit back to one goal in the 87th but it could not wipe out the damage done by its shaky defense. "We have to pick ourselves up from this, it was not our best night," Luis Enrique told a news conference. Atletico has 15 points, ahead of Real on goal difference, while Barca is fourth on 13, one point behind Sevilla in third. Elsewhere Malaga beat Athletic de Bilbao 2-1 and Espanyol drew with Villareal 0-0. Manolas breaks Inter hearts In Milan, Greek defender Kostas Manolas relaunched Roma's Serie A title hopes with a superb late header to hand the Giallorossi a precious 2-1 win over inconsistent Inter Milan Sunday. Thanks to results elsewhere, Inter dropped to ninth at seven points off the lead and two points behind city rival AC Milan, which launched a late fightback to secure a 4-3 win over Sassuolo at the San Siro. Torino, meanwhile, edged Fiorentina 2-1. Balotelli scores again In Paris, Mario Balotelli won't be blamed for being sent off this time. The Italian striker, as well known for his antics off and on the pitch as he is for his beautiful goals, scored a stunning late winner for Nice in its 2-1 defeat of Lorient in the French league Sunday. Nice returned to the top of the standings, one point above its Riviera rival Monaco. In other games it was: Angers 1, Marseille 1 and Lyon 2, Saint-Etienne 0.
