Robert Lewandowski's second-half strike helped Barcelona beat Alaves 1-0 on Sunday to cut the gap on La Liga leaders Real Madrid down to four points.
The Catalans, third, capitalised with a narrow victory after the champions slipped up across town at Espanyol on Saturday.
Barcelona trail second place Atletico by three points before the Rojiblancos face Real Madrid in a tasty derby clash next weekend, which could allow Hansi Flick's side to make up more ground.
Lewandowski netted from a Lamine Yamal cross to settle a hard-fought match in which Alaves largely frustrated the hosts.
Flick's team struggled to get going in the early afternoon sunlight at the Olympic stadium.
The Catalans created barely anything of note in the first half as Alaves resisted stubbornly.
One mazy Lamine Yamal dribble got home fans excited but there was little else to raise the pulse.
Gavi and Tomas Conechny were both taken off after an ugly collision of heads.
Lewandowski scuffed a shot narrowly wide and a low Pedri effort was comfortably fielded by Alaves goalkeeper Jesus Owono.
Flick brought on Frenkie de Jong and Eric Garcia at half-time to try and speed up Barcelona's game in possession and the team looked sharper as a result.
Lewandowski sent a glancing header agonisingly wide of the far post soon before he broke the deadlock.
The veteran polish forward produced a poacher's finish from close range after Yamal sent a cross-shot spinning towards him at the back post after 61 minutes.
It was Lewandowski's 18th goal of the league campaign, stretching his lead on Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe as the division's top scorer to three.
Barca substitute Ferran Torres's curling effort was pushed away by Owono at full stretch as the Catalans tried to make the game safe.
Flick's team could not produce a second but Alaves, who barely threatened Wojciech Szczesny's goal throughout, were not able to mount a comeback.
Later Sunday fourth-place Athletic Bilbao visit Real Betis among other matches.
Real Madrid fall at Espanyol
Real Madrid stumbled to a shock 1-0 defeat at struggling Espanyol on Sunday which left them leading La Liga by a single point.
Carlos Romero's 85th minute strike snatched victory for the relegation-battling hosts, provisionally 17th.
Atletico Madrid pulled within a point of Los Blancos with a 2-0 win against Mallorca earlier, ahead of next weekend's crunch derby clash at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Real Madrid were left furious after Romero was only booked for a cynical foul on Kylian Mbappe before going on to net the winner.
However, Carlo Ancelotti's side played far within themselves and did not do enough to take anything from what seemed on paper an inviting fixture.
"Espanyol played a very good game in my opinion, they defended very well, they did what they had to do. Could we have done more? Yes," Ancelotti told reporters.
The Italian coach was angry about the decision not to send off Romero.
"This foul, the decision the referee and VAR took was inexplicable, everyone saw it," continued the coach. "It's important to protect the players. It was a clear foul, a very ugly tackle, lucky there's no serious injury.
"To us it's inexplicable that they didn't send him off."
Romero admitted he felt bad about scything down the French superstar.
"I knew Kylian is impossible to stop when he's running, I stopped him how I could, it was a bit ugly," Romero told DAZN.
"I didn't like doing it and I said sorry. That's it and there's no more to it."
Espanyol largely kept the Spanish and European champions at bay in the first half.
Real Madrid were dealt a blow when Antonio Rudiger limped off in the first half, with their Champions League play-off tie against Manchester City less than a fortnight away.
Vinicius Junior found the net with Madrid's only chance but it was ruled out after Mbappe was adjudged to have fouled his marker.
Jofre Carreras had a low shot saved by Thibaut Courtois at the other end on a rare Espanyol attack.
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