Barcelona come from two goals behind to upstage Atletico Madrid as Yamel wins it at the death in Thriller #2613
Barcelona 4 Atletico 2FT
The La Liga season begins to wind down. As we have reached the final 10 matches of the season. However, there's still much to be decided. Particularly the title race still is a trio of teams looking to get their hands on the La Liga title. Last season's Champions Real Madrid, Flick's Barcelona, and Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid. Coming into Sunday night the three teams are only separated by just one point. Putting extra enthusiasm and extra importance on Sunday night's prime-time clash in Barcelona. With the title on the line and any dropped results being potentially harmful. It would be Barcelona against Atletico Madrid. Still, a real chance for all three of these teams to hold the title at the end of the season. However, the result of this match could have Grand ramifications for the La Liga title, race. Real Madrid recently took a 2-1 victory against Villarreal. Mbappe scored twice In the victory to surpass Cristiano Ronaldo's gold total in his debut season. This leaves Barcelona and Atletico Madrid to battle it out on Sunday night. Barcelona has recently punched their ticket into the quarterfinals of the Champions League after dispatching Benfica in the round of 16. Barcelona has won eight of the last 10. Their last loss in any competition was the reverse fixture when Atletico Madrid struck at the death to beat Barcelona. The two sides have also played fairly recently in the Copa del Rey semifinal first leg which ended 4-4. After some inconsistencies Midway through the season, Barcelona looks to get a big result at home against Atletico Madrid. They are Led by the trio of Robert Lewandowski who has a career year with 34 goals this season. Along with Raphinha with 45 goal involvements. Not to mention 17-year-old Yamal putting together a ridiculous season in his own right with over 20 involvements. On the other side of the coin, Athletico Madrid recently was knocked out of the Champions League against Real Madrid on penalties with a shootout controversy with Alvarez's penalty not counting. Athletico has been a major player in the title race this season. However their form has dipped as of late. A really poor performance last weekend against Getafe In defeat not to mention they've dropped points in several matches recently. Only had two victories in their last five matches. However, one of those was a draw against Real Madrid. Another one was a victory against Bilbao. I wouldn't count them out of this one, especially what Diego Simeone might have planned Julian Alvarez has been their main man up front with 25 goals this season in all competitions. Antoine griezmann continues to bring it with another 20-goal involvement season + Alexander Sorloth has added 15 goals in his own right. They are hot still top-heavy and can compete with Barcelona. The biggest match arguably in the La Liga season is title contenders Barcelona and Atletico Madrid clash horns at Wanda Metropolitano.
It was a fiery atmosphere. As we saw a bit of end-to-end from the very start. In the second minute, Antoine griezmann takes the ball forward as he shovels it into Giuliano Simeone He follows through from the side of the box and he lifts it over the corner. Barcelona then came down the other end and got right back at Atletico. In the 5th minute Dani Olmo sends a through ball into the box Lamine Yamal makes it run inside as the ball comes over his shoulder. He drives it into the post. Barcelona was inches away from possibly taking the lead inside of the first 10 minutes. In the 10th minute, Pablo Barrios sends a pass over to the left side just outside the box Rodrigo De Paul puts his foot through it sending it over the left corner. Barcelona returns fire in the 13th minute Alejandro Balde supplies a ball to Jules Koundé as he follows through from a distance saying and sending it over. And the 14th minute Jules Koundé delivered a cross into the box Robert Lewandowski Got his head on the end of it Jan Oblak came up with the big save. In the 22nd minute, Samuel Lino strikes from outside the box. It clashes into the opposing defense. After a slightly end-to-end affair thus far. This took us down to the closing minutes of the first half. In an insane sequence, things started to erupt. In the 44th minute Robert Lewandowski is played into the box by Pedri The Polish scoring machine is a good touch as it clashes against the post. The second time Barcelona has hit the post in the first half. Barcelona had pushed the vast majority of their team forward. On the flip side of things, it came right down the other end in the 45th minute. Barcelona had played that very high line that left them exposed near the back. Atletico Madrid ran forward. Alvarez was coming down the left side, however, Rodrigo DePaul put it into the right side of the box Giuliano Simeone supplied a touch as he passed it outside to Alvarez was situated. The Barcelona defense was disrupted. It meets the foot of the Argentine striker as he sends it into the bottom right corner. Just out of reach as Atletico Madrid takes a 1-0 lead. A fitting ending to what has been a dynamic first half with both sides having their moments. Barcelona hits the post twice Atletico Madrid hits on the counter as they maintain a narrow lead.
It's been pretty evenly split down the middle in the first 45 minutes. The last sequence was primarily due to risks being taken by Flick that almost ended up going in the favor of Barcelona but then was just hit on the counter. Barcelona has looked strong, but on the other side Atletico Madrid seems more than capable of dealing with the obstacles that come with a very strong Barcelona that are humming at the moment. Barcelona win themselves in an early corner in the second half. In the 53rd minute, it falls to Raphinha as he blasts it wide from distance. Barcelona looked to amp up the pressure as they put it through the air. In the 59th minute, Lamine Yamal delivers a cross into the box Robert Lewandowski got his head on the end of it but it drifts wide. However, it's somewhat leveled out. It seemed almost like they were afraid to take a risk that would have damaged themselves a little further. In the 68th minute, Atletico Madrid won themselves a corner Antoine Griezmann puts the ball into the box Clément Lenglet gets on the end of it but does drag it wide. Fortunately, for the home side, they would have another chance to capitalize just 2 minutes later. In the 70th minute, Athletico Madrid get forward. Conor Gallagher sends a pass into the box setting up Alexander Sørloth as the Norwegian puts it into the bottom corner as Atletico Madrid, takes a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to go. It would be his 15th goal of the season It seemed as if Atletico Madrid was closing in on a massive victory that could take them right on the fringe at the top of the table. However, Barcelona wasn't going to go down without a fight. Shortly after the goal Barcelona hit right back. In the 72nd minute Iñigo Martínez pushes the ball forward as he sends a pass into the box Robert Lewandowski strikes on the first touch into the bottom right corner as Barcelona gets a goal back immediately. It would be his 35th goal of the season in all competitions and his 22nd this campaign. There is enough time for them to get back into it and maybe get another one if they are to score quickly. That's exactly how it all played out. In the 78th minute, Raphinha delivers a cross into the box Ferran Torres gets his head through it as he puts it into the top corner. All of a sudden that two-goal lead From Atletico has been wiped away in a matter of minutes. It would be his 12th goal of the season, Atletico Madrid was cruising towards maximum points and now the circumstances have changed significantly. As we got later into the match in the last couple of minutes. Athletico Madrid seemed completely drowned out. It was Barcelona seen with their eyes on a winning goal. In the 87th minute, Robert Lewandowski strikes from outside the box looking to score the winner. The finish was just a bit off. Atletico Madrid then looked to respond in the 90th minute Alexander Sorloth strikes from distance but his effort from outside the box curls over the right corner. In the 92nd minute, the moment of horror would come for Athletico Madrid. Lamine Yamal retrieved the ball down the right side from outside the box The 17-year-old winger sent a curler from the corner of the box as it flew into the top left corner. The Barcelona Superstar just upstaged Athletico Madrid at the Metropolitano Barcelona takes a 3-2 two lead at the death! His 13th goal of the season. However, it would not end there. A few minutes later in the final minute of stoppage time, Ferran Torres would make it a double for himself as he drove the ball from outside the box into the bottom right corner, Barcelona took a 4-2 lead as they came from two goals down to score four goals in the last 20 minutes. The La Liga title race swings in their direction as they have taken down Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano with a 4-2 victory.
A massive collapse from Atletico Madrid. Just a few days after being eliminated from the Champions League due to some penalty controversy. This was their big statement. Their big chance to close that Gap at the top of the league and maybe at least come away from this with a La Liga title. Personally I thought that due to the reason and the way they got knocked out of the Champions League, they would win the title. However, I have to walk that back now. As Atletico Madrid misses a huge opportunity. They were two goals up with only 20 minutes left and somehow Barcelona scored four goals to ultimately put the hammer down on Atletico Madrid's title ambitions. There still is enough left this season for them to make up ground and still win the title but undoubtedly they have made it much more complicated for themselves. It's not as if Atletico Madrid was substantially better than Barcelona. They had just taken those chances and it came off for them. Even with the lead, it was very end-to-end. We saw Barcelona and Atletico Madrid exchange chances back and forth the thing that changed the tide was Robert Lewandowski scoring 2 minutes after the second goal. The Polish scoring machine has flown so far under the radar that he is not being discussed in these Ballon door conversations. The guy at 36-year-old has 35 goals this season. He is operating at a peak level. In his first season. He won La Liga and now with the coach He had at Bayern Munich during his best seasons. Is the one in charge and has contributed to his ridiculous campaign. After that, Barcelona somewhat eviscerated the confidence of Atletico Madrid and pulled away in the end. However, all four of the goals they scored happened in 18 minutes as we saw a goal-scoring clinic at the very end. Lamine Yamal is a superstar blossoming right before our eyes. Last season added as a 16-year-old. He ended up with six goals in the league. This season. He has 13 goals, 16 assists this season. He's been outrageous. He has separated himself from the pack for the most part. Wirtz is still the best young player on the planet. However, Lamine Yamal A starting to build an argument. None of the other young talents can compare to either of them. They have established themselves Head and shoulders above the rest. However, the fact that he's doing all this at 17 years old is beyond comprehension. He scores the would-be winner after Torres scores the second. And then Torres delivers the kiss of death at the end. This Barcelona side is not to be effed with. They are in the semi-final of the Copa del Rey. With the victory they've gone to the top of the league. If they win the rest of the games this season they will win La Liga. They have an advantage against Real Madrid due to the head-to-head and goal difference. They are in the Champions League quarterfinal and have a good chance of making the semi-final and then the final. A treble is on the table for this Barcelona side as they've more or less crushed Atletico Madrid's dreams of La Liga. Still, work to be done. It's still not completely gone for Atletico Madrid either, but undoubtedly Barcelona with a dramatic finish. Take a step closer to the La Liga title on their sites.
