Barcelona finally managed to defeat Atletico Madrid this season, doing it in an amazing way on the field of the capital, reported sportal.bg.
The Catalans prevailed 4-2, after losing 0-2 until about 20 minutes before the end. Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres scored the decisive goals in added time. This was a match from the 28th round of La Liga, after which Hansi Flick's team is back on top - with a game less.
First, Julián Álvarez was accurate for the hosts in the last seconds of the first half. In the 70th minute, Alexander Seurlot made it 2-0, but two minutes later Robert Lewandowski reduced the visitors' deficit. Ferran Torres equalized in the 78th minute, forcing extra time when Lamine Yamal and Ferran again secured the victory for the "Blaugranas".
This was the third clash between Atleti and Barcelona this season, but the first in the capital. In the days before Christmas, Diego Simeone's team won 2-1 at “Montjuic” for the championship, and then - at the same stadium - it came to 4-4 in the first semi-final of the King's Cup tournament. Both matches in the Catalan capital were marked by late strikes by the "Rojiblancos", but now we have seen the opposite - Barça imposed its will in the final stage. Very soon - on April 2 - we will have another duel between these rivals, which will be for the Spanish Cup.
Now Barcelona was far from its best performances until Atletico's second goal. Then “los cules” transformed themselves and made this amazing final sprint. Although Atletico leaves the impression of a successful fighter, Diego Simeone's team has now lost four games in a row in all competitions. This defeat is the first for the team at its championship stadium.
In addition, this match was not without controversial cases, which for many may be scandalous. In the 30th minute, when the score was still 0:0, Atleti insisted on sending off Jules Kunde for a fight with Giuliano Simeone. The Barça player already had a yellow card and twice reached for Cholo's son and probably hit him, but the referee did not react. Then the Catalans were considered to be at a disadvantage, as seconds before the goal for 2:0 in favor of the hosts, their attack was stopped by a handball, but here too there was no reaction from the referees - in this case perhaps rightly so, because then the guests managed to regain possession of the ball before losing it again and conceding a goal.
Antoine Griezmann, who was the starter for the hosts, recorded his 520th match in La Liga, equaling Lionel Messi's record for the most matches by a foreigner in the Spanish elite.
A bad luck prevented Lamine Yamal from putting Barca ahead in the 5th minute, when after a pass from Olmo, he fired a shot that touched the side post.
Both teams played hard, for which Jules Kunde was booked early on. A little later, in the 30th minute, the French defender of Barca became the protagonist in a controversial situation, in which Giuliano Simeone fell to the ground, claiming that he had hit him without the ball. It all happened very close to the main referee Ricardo de Burgos, who refused to sanction Kunde and did not even call a foul. At the same time, the hosts insisted on something like that, and if he had been shown even a yellow card, he should have been sent off.
Just two minutes later, Cholo's son, upon entering the Barcelona penalty area, elbowed Yamal in the face, but this time there was no penalty either.
A minute before the break, Lewandowski found himself in an excellent position diagonally, but failed to hit the goal.
Literally seconds later, in the subsequent attack by Atleti, Julian Alvarez scored a goal for 1:0.
Yamal could have equalized five minutes after the break, but again there was no chance, because his shot went out of bounds this time too.
The chances were lacking, but then they came back with a bang. In the 70th minute, Atletico took a 2:0 lead after a situation that was scandalous in the eyes of the visitors. Barça had the ball when Pedri attempted a pass, but it was stopped with a hand by the home team's midfielder Rodrigo de Paul. However, there was no signal, and less than half a minute later the ball ended up in Szczesno's net after a shot by Soerlot. The referee did not respect the Catalans' protests, and did not follow up with a review of the situation on his part or on the monitor. The fact is that after De Paul had played with his hand, the ball returned to Barcelona's possession at some point, before it was lost and the attack followed.
The controversial moment was quickly forgotten by Hansi Flick's team, because in the 72nd minute Lewandowski shone with a masterful performance, which ended with a shot into the net - 1:2.
After another six minutes, Barcelona even equalized, after Ferran Torres headed in after a cross from Rafinha.
The guests gained speed and continued to dominate in search of the third goal. It came in added time, when Yamal's shot ricocheted off Reinildo and became unsalvageable for Oblak - 3:2 for Barça.
That wasn't all, as there was still time for Ferran Torres to score another goal for Barcelona.
The league is now on hiatus, with matches set to resume at the end of the month.