Barcelona’s players have fun their side’s 4th goal scored by Ferran Torres during a La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona on the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, Sunday, March 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
MADRID — Atletico Madrid relinquished a two-goal lead in its 4-2 loss to Barcelona within the Spanish league on Sunday in one other setback for the club after it was eliminated by Real Madrid within the Champions League.
Playing on the Metropolitano stadium 4 days after it lost to Madrid in a penalty shootout, Atletico led Barcelona 2-0 at halftime but conceded a pair of stoppage-time goals to waste a probability to overtake the Catalan club for second place and move inside a degree of Madrid.
“It was a weird game, we did well in the primary half and had the sport under control after scoring twice,” Atletico player Marcos Llorente said. “I do think that the 120 minutes that we needed to play within the Champions League made a difference, there was a letdown in the long run.”
READ: Barcelona inches closer to Madrid rivals in Spanish league
The defeat left third-placed Atletico 4 points behind its two rivals at the highest of the league on 60 points each, with Barcelona having a game in hand. Madrid won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday.
Lamine Yamal scored two minutes into stoppage time and Ferran Torres six minutes later to provide Barcelona the gritty come-from-behind victory.
“It’s a press release win for us, allowing us to regain the lead with a game in hand,” Yamal said.
Julián Álvarez had put Atletico ahead after a breakaway just before halftime. It had been an unusual double touch by Álvarez within the penalty shootout against Madrid that led to Atletico’s elimination from the Champions League on Wednesday.
Atletico added to the lead with a goal by substitute Alexander Sorloth from inside the realm within the seventieth. Robert Lewandowski, the league’s leading scorer, gave Barcelona hope by finding the web within the 72nd, and Torres equalized with a header after a cross by Raphinha within the 78th.
READ: Mbappe, Vinicius rating as Real Madrid joins Barcelona on top
“We have now to congratulate them,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. “There was a little bit of luck, which it’s essential to have sometimes. We had just a few probabilities in counterattacks but didn’t benefit from them. Barcelona is an excellent team.”
Atletico beat Barcelona 2-1 when the teams met in Barcelona of their first Spanish league match of the season in December. They drew 4-4 in a first-leg match within the semifinals of the Copa del Rey last month. The second leg is in April.
Athletic set for Champions League place
Athletic Bilbao solidified its fourth place with a 1-0 win at Sevilla.
Yeray Álvarez scored with a header within the 84th to provide Athletic the away victory and an eight-point gap to fifth-placed Villarreal, which has a game in hand.
It was Athletic’s second win in a row after three straight matches and not using a victory across all tournaments. It got here off a 3-1 win over Roma to succeed in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
Real Betis rallies
Sixth-placed Real Betis rallied from two goals down at halftime to win 3-2 at relegation-threatened Leganes, with Cucho Hernández scoring the winner within the 82nd.
The hosts had taken the lead with Dani Raba scoring within the twenty ninth and forty fourth before Betis equalized through Isco within the sixty fourth and Cédric Bakambu within the 78th.
It was the third straight victory for Betis in all competitions, and the second loss in a row for 18th-placed Leganes.
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Also Sunday, ninth-placed Rayo Vallecano drew 2-2 at home with Twelfth-placed Real Sociedad, which is winless in six consecutive games in all competitions. Rayo is winless in five straight league matches.
