With a tight 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid on Sunday, Barcelona moved three points ahead at the top of La Liga thanks to Ousmane Dembele’s goal. Earlier, David Silva scored twice to help Real Sociedad defeat Almeria 2-0, while Real Betis climbed up to fourth with a thrilling 2-1 win against Rayo Vallecano. Sevilla climbed out of the relegation zone on goal differential after a key 2-1 win against Getafe. Barcelona went out to make a statement victory over Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano after champions Real Madrid was defeated by Villarreal.
Atletico increased the pressure, and the outstanding Ronald Araujo successfully cleared Antoine Griezmann’s last-second attempt to tie the score. However, Diego Simeone’s team was unable to score an equalizer.
After Ferran Torres and Stefan Savic were dismissed for fighting with each other on the floor as tempers frayed, both sides concluded with 10 players.
We prevailed, but it wasn’t just a three-point win. It raises our spirits and confidence for the rest of the season, Xavi told reporters.
We can triumph in such a challenging environment by enduring hardship together as a family.
We gained three golden points because of knowing how to endure. It’s obvious that we’re in the running for the league title.
Barcelona had only surrendered six goals in their first 16 La Liga games, but Griezmann came close to striking the equalizer twice.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak believed his team deserved more from the catalans, who only had two attempts on goal.
We applied good pressure and had scoring opportunities, but we came up short due to a stroke of bad luck.
The first 25 minutes were a disappointment; we lacked confidence, but we gradually gained confidence. However, it’s already harder at a 1-0 down.”
Barcelona leading by 14 points, Atletico Madrid is currently in sixth place.
Simeone told the media, “Even though that situation isn’t bad, it needs to be handled.”
The fact is that we fell short. True, the squad deserved to win another game, but that didn’t happen since we didn’t put it away. “What occurs in the boxes is critical.”