Barcelona stretched their lead on the high of LaLiga to 5 factors in a single day after a hard-fought 3–1 victory over Atlético Madrid, bringing an abrupt finish to Los Rojiblancos’ spectacular 13-match unbeaten run and including one other victory after seeing off Alaves away from residence of their earlier fixture.
Softfootball predicted within the pre-match assessment that this wasn’t the sort of match anybody anticipated to be quiet, and it undoubtedly wasn’t. Barcelona have been so proud of the end result, tagging it an enormous win in a publish through their official X account.
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The sport exploded into life virtually instantly, with either side creating half-chances inside the primary couple of minutes. Raphinha fired an early effort over the bar, whereas Álex Baena buzzed round energetically for Atléti, attempting to present his facet a foothold.
Though Barcelona stored a lot of the early possession, Atlético seemed simply that little bit sharper with their passing, and it paid off. Baena timed his run completely from the centre circle and completed with a calmness that didn’t match the chaos round him.
Barcelona’s response was precisely what you’d count on: relentless waves of strain. Atléti held their form for some time with a compact five-man again line, however finally Raphinha broke via, rounding Jan Oblak and slotting residence a tidy equaliser simply moments after going behind.
The hosts stored pushing, and when Dani Olmo was tripped within the field, it appeared the comeback script was writing itself. As an alternative, Robert Lewandowski blasted a poor penalty excessive into the stands. Oblak then denied him once more with a superb save from shut vary.
The second half started with Barca urgent furiously, however the first actual likelihood fell to Julián Álvarez, whose chipped try was comfortably collected by Joan García.
Extra possibilities adopted at each ends earlier than Olmo wriggled free and swept in a cool left-footed end, injuring himself within the course of.
Ferran Torres changed him and later delivered the ultimate blow, scoring deep into stoppage time after a frantic spell that felt extra like pinball than soccer.
The win means Barcelona have now misplaced simply one of many final ten league conferences between the 2 sides, persevering with their long-standing dominance at residence.
