Madrid, Feb. 6 (BNA): Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 in La Liga despite playing more than 20 minutes with ten men after Dani Alves was sent off on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.
The result ended with five consecutive losing matches against Atletico Madrid in all competitions and allowed the Catalan club to overpower Diego Simeone’s side to finish fourth in the league. Barcelona returned to the Champions League qualification spots for the first time since the third round.
Barcelona admitted early but took a 4-1 lead before Atletico threatened to return to the match. Luis Suarez – playing in front of Barcelona fans at the Camp Nou for the first time since joining Atletico – scored in the 58th minute and Alves was sent off with a straight red card in the 69th after a video review saw him step on Yannick Carrasco’s leg from behind.
Barcelona has not defeated Atletico since a league match in December 2019. He has played 11 consecutive matches without defeating Atletico or Real Madrid in any competition. Atletico Barcelona have not been defeated at the Camp Nou since 2006.
Atlético, who paid for the unusually terrible performance of their defence, were on the verge of winning the league against Valencia but had lost their previous three games in all competitions.
Barcelona entered the match, one point behind Atletico in the standings. They are behind Real Betis, who are third, by two points, and Sevilla, who are second, by nine. The Catalan club is 12 points behind the league leaders Real Madrid.
Both teams got off to a quick start and created scoring opportunities back and forth, but Atlético were the first to come up on the board after Carrasco’s Suarez shot from inside the area in the eighth minute.
Barcelona equalized two minutes later with a wonderful shot from Jordi Alba from one of the corners of the area, as he sent the ball over goalkeeper Jan Oblak after a cross from Alves.
Gavi Páez put the hosts ahead with a header in the 21st minute after a cross from Adama Traoré, and Araujo increased the lead from close range, rebounding from Gerard Pique’s header that hit the crossbar.
Alves scored his first goal since his return to Barcelona with a low shot from inside the area in the 49th minute before Suarez approached Atletico with a header about 10 minutes later. Suarez has yet to celebrate the goal and has signaled to the Barcelona fans for forgiveness by putting his hands together.
Traore made his debut after returning to Barcelona on loan from Wolverhampton until the end of the season. Striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who signed at the end of the transfer window, replaced Traore in the 61st minute.
Ousmane Dembele, who was in Xavi Hernandez’s squad, despite refusing to sign a new contract or secure a move to a new club in the transfer window, remained on the bench.
insult