BARCELONA: Alexander Sorloth struck deep in stoppage time to hand Atletico Madrid a 2-1 comeback win at Barcelona on Saturday that moved them top of La Liga with their 12th consecutive victory across all competitions.

Pedri put the hosts ahead in the first half but Rodrigo De Paul

levelled after the break before Sorloth inflicted a third straight home league defeat on Barca and knocked them off the La Liga summit.

It was Atletico’s first away win at Barcelona in 18 years and they now have 41 points with a game in hand, three ahead of the Catalans who have gone three league games without a win.

“Today it was unbelievable how we played. Maybe this break came at the right time. I appreciate how we played. But we have to learn from these things. Losing nine points is not normal and we have to work on it,” Barca coach Hansi Flick told reporters.

“The points lost against Las Pal­m­as and Leganes are in the past. We will show after the break how strong we are. We are very disappointed with the defeat, but life goes on.”

Barca were the better side in the opening exchanges and Pedri scored on the half-hour mark

following a great run into the box and a one-two with Gavi, beating goalkeeper Jan Oblak with a low shot.

Despite their dominance, the hosts were unable to extend their lead after the break as Raphinha’s chip hit the crossbar and Oblak blocked Fermin Lopez’s close-range shot with his feet.

Robert Lewandowski also failed to find the net as his poor shot from inside the six-yard box was also saved by Oblak.

De Paul then grabbed the equaliser in the 60th minute, capitalising on a poor clearance by Marc Casado on the edge of the box to slot his shot into the bottom corner with what was only Atletico’s second attempt on goal in the game.

Oblak pulled off a couple of key saves to deny Raphinha and Pedri before substitute Sorloth netted with a first-time effort six minutes into stoppage time from a deep cross by Nahuel Molina.

It was also Atletico coach Diego Simeone’s first win in Barcelona since he joined the club in 2011. Their last win against the Catalans at Barca was in 2006.

“I’m very happy with the team’s effort. We were humble enough to suffer and to defend against a team that plays very well. In the first half and I think until our goal they were far superior to us,” Simeone told reporters.

“Then I think we started to find our feet a bit in the game, and we saw that we could compete in the game. The team managed to hold on.”

Earlier Athletic Bilbao beat Osa­suna 2-1 to tighten their grip on fourth place while Mallorca edged 17th place Getafe 1-0 to move upto fifth.

Elsewhere, Celta Vigo, 10th, reco­rded a 2-0 win over Real Sociedad, who are seventh with 25 points.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2024