Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Archives

Torres keeps Barca afloat against Atletico as Sevilla stun Villarreal

Ferran Torres’ strike propelled Barcelona to recover from a recent slump to edge Atletico Madrid 1-0, moving them closer to winning their first La Liga title since 2019.

Earlier, having contested two straight goalless matches, Barca saw the defending champions Real Madrid cut into their lead with a victory over Celta Vigo. However, a first-half strike from Torres sealed the deal for the home side.

Torres’s brilliant low strike brought Barca back on the winning track and also restored their advantage to 11 points with eight games remaining.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico, being in red-hot form, failed to keep the home side silent as Torres stroked home from the edge of the box in the 44th minute to secure victory for Xavi Hernandez’s side.

Both sides then had multiple golden opportunities to score in the second half but Barcelona held on to their lead to script Atletico Madrid’s first defeat since the two teams clashed in January.

The hosts produced their 23rd clean sheet of the season in La Liga, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen making a brilliant stop to deny Antoine Griezmann an equaliser.

In another Sunday La Liga fixture, 13th-ranked Sevilla, fresh from thumping Manchester United in the Europa League, carried on their brilliant form to snatch a late winner and edged sixth-placed Villarreal 2-1 with Youssef En-Nesyri heading home in stoppage time.

READ: ‘Best spell I witnessed in my life’ Rumman lauds Amir’s CT 2017 final blitz

Real Madrid bring down deficit to eight points as Barcelona await Atletico

MADRID: Marco Asensio and Eder Militao netted goals to steer Real Madrid to a 2-0 win against Celta at Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday and bring down Barcelona’s lead to eight points at the top of LaLiga.

Leader Barcelona have a chance to solidify their claim on the title with a game in hand as they host Atletico Madrid on Sunday.

In-form Atletico are flying high on an unbeaten 13-game streak and have won their last six encounters in LaLiga. They sit third on the table with 13 points behind Barca and five from Real.

With eight games left in the season, defending champions Real maintained their hopes by moving to 65 points. Celta are 12th in the standings with 36 points.

After a steady start, Real started to apply pressure midway through the first half and took the lead in the 42nd minute through Asensio. The Spanish international finished with a fine touch from the middle of the box after Vinicius passed him a low cross running from the left.

Defender Militao doubled the lead right after the break by diving at a corner kick from Asensio and headed the ball over the Celta goalkeeper.

Earlier hosts Valladolid beat Girona 1-0 thanks to Monchu’s decider in the first half.

Real Sociedad, on the other hand, edged past Rayo Vallecano 2-1 with an own goal by Florian Lejeune after Alexander Sorioth neutralized Rayo’s lead two minutes after Isi Palazon’s opener in the second half.

Meanhwile, Nico Williams and Oscar de Marcos scored goals in each half to give Bilbao a 2-1 win over Almeria and take the side to seventh place on the table.

READ: World number one Djokovic pulls out of Madrid Masters

Dembele gives Barcelona lead in LaLiga after tense win over Atletico

MADRID: Ousmane Dembele scored the winner to take Barcelona three points clear at the top of LaLiga after defeating Atletico Madrid 1-0 in a tense game on Sunday.

Xavi Hernandez’s side went out to make a statement victory at Metropolitano following reigning champions Real Madrid’s shock 2-1 defeat against Villareal on Saturday.

The visitors started on high as Dembele earned the lead the in the 22nd minute with a side-foot finish off Gavi’s assist.

Atletico built up the pressure from then onwards but could not find an equalizer till the last as Antoine Griezmann’s effort was cleared off the line by Ronald Araujo in the added time.

The match ended with an ill-tempered affair between Ferran Torres and Stefan Savic with both getting red cards for the scuffle.

Barcelona solidified its position at the top with 41 points, three points ahead of second-placed Madrid after last night’s win.

Earlier David Silva produced a stellar to aid third-place Real Sociedad thump Almeria 2-0, while Real Betis climbed to fourth following a thrilling 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano.

Meanwhile, beleaguered Sevilla claimed their first league win since October 15, lifting them out of the relegation zone with a late 2-1 victory over Getafe at home.

The action-filled matches of LaLiga 2022-23 are being telecasted live on Pakistan’s first HD Sports channel – A Sports and are simultaneously streamed on the digital platform of ARY Digital Network – ARY ZAP in crystal clear HD quality.

READ: Bracewell replaces injured Henry in New Zealand squad for Pakistan ODIs