Barcelona on Sunday showed why they should not be discarded just yet as a threat after the Catalan club beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 in La Liga to end a five-game winless streak against Diego Simeone’s side.
Barcelona overtook Atletico to move into fourth place and is back in the UEFA Champions League qualification places.
Real Madrid later increased their gap at the top over Sevilla to six points by beating Granada 1-0 at home.
Photo: AP
Barcelona played well to take a big lead, before hanging tough while playing more than 20 minutes with a man down.
Xavi Hernandez’s team conceded early, but rallied to a 4-1 lead before Atletico threatened to get back into the game in the second half.
Luis Suarez — playing in front of Barcelona fans at the Camp Nou for the first time since joining Atletico — pulled the visitors closer in the 58th minute, then Dani Alves was sent off with a straight red card in the 69th after the video assistant referee saw him stepping on Yannick Carrasco’s leg from behind.
However, Barcelona held on, earning the victory that could prove a turning point in what has been a challenging season so far.
“It was an important victory, against the defending champions,” Xavi said. “It was the best Barcelona of the season during some parts of the game. If we keep working hard like this we will lose very few matches.”
Barcelona had not beaten Atletico since a league match in December 2019. They had gone 11 consecutive matches without defeating either Atletico or Real Madrid in any competition.
Atletico have not beaten Barcelona at the Camp Nou since 2006.
Simone’s team paid the price for a dreadful performance by their defense. They were coming off a league win over Valencia, but had lost their previous three matches in all competitions.
“We have to find a way to improve defensively,” Simeone said. “We have to keep working on that.”
Atletico’s defense usually ranks top in the league, but they entered the weekend as the 11th-best in goals conceded.
Barcelona went into the game one point behind Atletico in the table. They trail third-placed Real Betis Balompie by two points and second-placed Sevilla by nine points. Barcelona are 15 points behind Real Madrid with a game in hand.
“It was an important match and we are glad we got the victory to get back into the Champions League places,” said Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo, who scored one of the goals for the hosts.
Both teams got off to a fast start and created back-and-forth scoring opportunities, but it was Atletico who got on the score sheet first after Suarez set up Carrasco’s shot from inside the penalty area in the eighth minute.
Barcelona equalized two minutes later with a superb volley from Jordi Alba following a pass from Alves.
Gavi Paez put the hosts ahead with a header in the 21st minute after a cross by Adama Traore and Araujo added to the lead from close range off the rebound of a Gerard Pique header that hit the crossbar.
Alves scored his first goal since returning to Barcelona with a low strike from inside the penalty area in the 49th minute, before Suarez pulled Atletico closer with a header about 10 minutes later.
Suarez did not celebrate after the goal and gestured to Barcelona fans for forgiveness by putting his hands together.
Traore made his debut after returning to Barcelona on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers until the end of the season. Forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, signed at the end of the transfer window, replaced Traore in the 61st minute.
Ousmane Dembele, who was included in Xavi Hernandez’s squad despite his refusal to sign a new contract or secure a move to a new club in the transfer window, stayed on the bench and was jeered by the Barcelona fans.
Daniel Wass and Reinildo Mandava made their debuts for Atletico.
Real Madrid had a hard time against Granada, with Marco Asensio scoring the winner in the 74th minute.
Elsewhere, Villarreal won 2-0 at third-placed Real Betis to end a four-match winning streak in all competitions, while Valencia’s winless streak in the league reached five straight games after they were held 0-0 by Real Sociedad.
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