Regardless of being in poor type and confronted with the present dominant pressure in Spanish soccer, Barcelona rose to the event. It secured a pivotal victory that bolstered their probabilities of clinching the title whereas dispelling any apprehensions of a possible late-season downturn.
Barcelona ended a three-game winless streak – and Atletico Madrid’s 13-game unbeaten run – with a hard-fought 1-0 win on Sunday to remain on observe for its first Spanish league title in 4 years. The house win restored the crew’s snug 11-point lead over Actual Madrid with eight rounds remaining.
The victory additionally halted a six-game profitable streak by Atletico, which misplaced floor to Madrid within the struggle for second place. As an alternative, Madrid centered on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey last, beating Celta Vigo 2-0 at house on Saturday.
Ferran Torres scored a Forty fourth-minute winner at Camp Nou with a well-placed low shot from simply inside the world to finish Barcelona’s current issues coming into the ultimate stretch.
It hadn’t scored in three straight video games after being humiliated at house by Madrid 4-0 within the Copa del Rey semifinals and held to scoreless attracts in opposition to modest league opponents in Girona and Getafe.
“We needed to win it doesn’t matter what; it was an vital match to maintain us on observe to profitable the league,” Torres mentioned. “It was troublesome in opposition to an unbeaten crew in 13 matches and one of many hottest groups this season.”
It was the twenty third clear sheet within the league for Barcelona, which final received the league title in 2019. It has conceded solely 9 objectives in 30 league matches this season.
Third-place Atletico, with the second-best protection with 22 objectives conceded, trails Madrid by 5 factors.
It was the third straight win by Barcelona over Diego Simeone’s crew, whose final win in opposition to the Catalan membership was in 2021. Atletico is winless at Camp Nou in 17 consecutive league matches. Its earlier league loss this season had been at Barcelona in January.
“They deserved the victory as a result of they have been extra environment friendly,” Simeone mentioned. “We had our probabilities however didn’t reap the benefits of them.”
Atletico, the 2021 champion, was threatened first with a shot by Antoine Griezmann that hit the crossbar three minutes into the match.
Atletico struggled early within the season, shortly falling out of competition for the league title and ending its Champions League group in final place, nevertheless it had been the most popular crew in Spain in 2023.
Barcelona coach Xavi had the return of Pedri and Frenkie de Jong after they missed a number of matches due to accidents.
Sevilla’s momentum
Youssef En-Nesyri scored a winner 4 minutes into stoppage time as Sevilla stored its momentum with a 2-1 win over Villarreal at house.
It was the third victory for Sevilla, which eradicated Manchester United within the Europa League midweek. Because of this, it moved to the twelfth.
Villarreal stayed sixth after its second straight loss and missed an opportunity to maneuver nearer to the Champions League locations.
Valencia respite
Valencia took a step ahead in its struggle in opposition to relegation with a 2-0 win at last-place Elche.
The end result ended Valencia’s 10-match winless streak in away matches within the league. It had misplaced eight in a row on the street.
Valencia stayed in 18th place with the identical factors as Seventeenth-place Almeria, the primary crew outdoors the relegation zone.
Elche is 17 factors from security.
Getafe in peril
South Korean midfielder Lee Kang-in scored second-half objectives as Mallorca got here from behind to beat relegation-threatened Getafe 3-1 at house.
Mallorca moved to tenth, whereas Getafe dropped to sixteenth and one level from the relegation zone.
