Barcelona denied Argentina's Diego Simeone the chance to stand alone atop an unprecedented historic record in the Spanish league.

The Catalans beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 at the Metropolitano Stadium tonight in La Liga.

Simeone had wanted the win to climb clear at the top of the list of managers with the most victories in Spanish league history.

His 2-0 triumph over Levante in the previous round took the Atletico boss to 344 wins from 565 matches with the Rojiblancos in the competition.

Across those games, Simeone has also drawn 123 and lost 98.

That tally drew him level with Luis Aragones, who reached 344 wins but needed 756 matches to do so.

Tonight's clash with Barcelona offered the chance to move to 345 and sit alone on the throne of La Liga's most successful manager. Barcelona had other ideas.

Aragones, for his part, managed a host of La Liga sides, most notably Barcelona, Atletico Madrid on several occasions, and Real Betis.