Barcelona moved one step closer to clinching the La Liga title after beating Celta Vigo 1-0 on Wednesday in the 33rd round, in a match in which the injury of their star Lamine Jamal, who scored the only goal of the match, was marred by Catalan joy.
German coach Hansi Flick's side took their tally to 82 points in first place, nine points clear of rivals Real Madrid, who beat Alavés 2-1 on Tuesday.
Despite Barcelona finishing the first half ahead with Jamal's goal from the penalty spot (40), the young star left the pitch due to injury, having also been preceded by Portuguese full-back Joao Cancelo (23).
The Spanish striker went straight to the dressing room, clearly holding his left thigh as he took the penalty, much to the chagrin of the coaching staff and the fans.
The 18-year-old, who had suffered from pubic pain earlier in the season, fell to the ground immediately after scoring the goal and asked to be replaced as a precaution.
Ferran Torres thought he had scored the second but his goal was not counted after VAR was returned for offside (55).
Barcelona's intensity generally eased in the second half with Gamal and Cancelo coming off and then Gavi (46), while Dutchman Frenkie de Jong and England's Marcus Rashford (73) came on to seal the result unchanged.
Atletico continues to stagger
Atletico Madrid are still impressed by the effort of their players in the Champions League quarter-final clash with Barcelona and their painful loss in the cup final, and continued their reeling with a fourth consecutive loss in all competitions.
Argentine coach Diego Simeone's side fell to hosts Elche, who are struggling to stay at 2-3.
Since beating Barcelona 2-0 in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Atletico have fallen to Sevilla in the league and Barcelona in the Champions League (qualifying by a goal thanks to their first-leg win), and lost the Copa del Rey final to Real Sociedad on penalties.
The almost certain guarantee of a place in the Champions League next season could be a major reason for the team's decline in results in the league, along with the great physical effort it put into the Catalan side, as Simeone himself has already pointed out.
Atlético's balance was frozen at 57 points in fourth place, 8 points behind fifth-placed Real Betis, while Elche gave up 18th place leading to relegation, advancing to 15th place temporarily with 35 points.
Despite taking the lead first through Argentina's Nicolás González (10), Madrid conceded the equalizer through Austria's David Avengruber (18).
Atlético's Argentine player Thiago Almada received a straight red card (30) for which Elche's goal came from a penalty kick scored by Portugal's Andre Silva (33), but González soon equalised (34).
Elche took advantage of the capital's numerical deficit and scored the third through Silva (75), who took his tally to 9 league goals this season.