Having seen title rivals Real Madrid fall to a shock defeat against Mallorca earlier in the day, Barça knew a positive result in the capital would strengthen their grip on top spot.
It was an end-to-end start at the Metropolitano, with Antoine Griezmann shooting straight at Joan García after a superb dummy to wrong-foot Ronald Araujo, while at the other end, Fermin Lopez failed to convert from Lamine Yamal’s inch-perfect trivela pass.
Both sides continued to threaten as the first half progressed, and the visitors nearly took the lead when Yamal’s dinked effort clipped the outside of the post.
Atlético duly capitalised on that reprieve, as Giuliano Simeone controlled a long ball from Clement Lenglet before curling a clinical finish beyond García for his fourth LaLiga goal of the season.
The hosts’ joy was short-lived, however, with Hansi Flick’s men restoring parity just three minutes later through Marcus Rashford, who combined neatly with Dani Olmo to sweep a low finish past Juan Musso.
Buoyed by the swift equaliser, Barça were handed another major boost on the stroke of half time when Nicolás González was dismissed for Atlético after a last-man challenge on Yamal.
The visitors looked to up the ante at the start of the second period, but were perhaps fortunate not to be reduced to 10 men themselves, as Gerard Martin’s rash tackle on Thiago Almada was downgraded from a red card to a yellow.
Keen to claim a fourth successive H2H league win at the Metropolitano, Barça ramped up the pressure with time heading into the final half-hour, as Yamal fired an effort narrowly wide before Ferran Torres’ close-range strike was expertly parried away by Musso.
The one-way traffic showed no signs of easing, as Flick introduced Lewandowski from the bench in the hope of finding a late winner.
The Pole duly delivered with three minutes remaining, finding himself in the right place at the right time to deflect a rebound over the line after Joao Cancelo’s initial effort was saved by Musso.
That proved to be the decisive moment for the Blaugrana, who saw out the closing stages to extend their unbeaten streak across all competitions to nine matches (W8, D1) ahead of a blockbuster UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie against Diego Simeone’s men in midweek.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Lamine Yamal (Barcelona)