Atletico Madrid went top of La Liga table as Alexander Sorloth scored with the final kick of the game to secure a dramatic 2-1 win over Barcelona in Catalonia on Saturday.
The seismic moment in the race for the Spanish name is also historic, as it represents Diego Simeone’s first league win at Barcelona and marks the first time since 2006 that Atletico Madrid have picked up a La Liga win away from home against the Catalan giants.
Barcelona dominated nearly the entire match from an attacking perspective and, as Pedri scored with half an hour played, it seemed a harbinger of yet another painful reminder of Atleti’s woes in their City of Horrors. Simeone’s side were under siege the entire first 45 minutes, failing to produce a single shot before the break.
MORE: A closer look at the insane streaks that ended when Barcelona fell to Atletico Madrid
As the second part began, little was replaced and it seemed that the visitors could not prevent history from repeating itself once again. Even after Rodrigo de Paul equalized against the run of play in the 60th minute, it is only a matter of time before Barcelona regains its previous lead.
However, when Robert Lewandowski inexplicably missed a goalkeeper with 15 minutes remaining, hope began to take hold for Atlético Madrid. Then, in the 97th minute, super substitute Alexander Sorloth pulled off a poisonous counterattack and plunged a dagger into Barcelona’s heart.
That has propelled Atlético de Madrid to first place in the Spanish standings with 12 consecutive victories in all competitions, while Barcelona has won only one of its last seven La Liga games, adding consecutive defeats.
Sporting News followed the Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid match live, offering results updates and commentary.
Minute by minute observation | Team news and lineups | How to see where you are
Venue: Estadio Olímpico Lluis Companys (Barcelona, Spain) Referee: Ricardo De Burgos
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Starting lineups:
Barcelona (4-3-3, left to right): 13. Iñaki Peña (Goalkeeper) – 23. Jules Kounde, 2. Pau Cubarsi, 5. Íñigo Martínez, 3. Alex Balde – 6. Gavi (Olmo, 64′) Array 17. Marc Casado (E. García, 80′), 8. Pedri — 16. Fermín López (F. Torres, 64′), 9. Robert Lewandowski, 11. Raphinha.
Atlético de Madrid (4-4-2, from left to right): 13. Jan Oblak (PO) – 14. Marcos Llorente (Le Normand, 74′), 2. José Gimenez (Witsel, 52′), 15. Clément LengletArray 21 . Javi Galán — 22. Giuliano Simeone (Molina, 62′), 5. Rodrigo De Paul, 8. Pablo. Barrios, 4. Conor Gallagher (Koke, 62′) – 7. Antoine Griezmann (Sorloth, 74′), 19. Julián Álvarez.
MORE: Updated list of La Liga top scorers after Lewandowski’s catastrophic defeat against Atleti
FULLTIME: Barcelona 1-2 Atletico Madrid
BARCELONA IS STUNNED TO DEATH! At the final whistle, Diego Simeone goes straight into the tunnel in his delirious celebration!
The hosts were in complete control of the match the entire way through, but failed to finish chances and have been punished in brutal fashion. The long wait for Diego Simeone is over as he gets his first-ever league victory on the road at Barcelona!
90+7 minutes: GOAL! ATLETICO DE MADRID! ALEXANDER SORLOTH SCORES WITH THE LAST SHOT OF THE MATCH AS ATLÉTICO DE MADRID MAKES HISTORY AND ACHIEVES AN UNLIKELY VICTORY! WHAT A DRAMA!
Raphinha gives it away and Atletico Madrid run a vicious counter, and on a perfectly weighted Nahuel Molina cross from the right, Sorloth finishes it off with deadly accuracy into the top corner! You cannot make this up, Barcelona have thrown the game away despite dominating nearly the full 90 minutes!
VIDEO: Watch Atletico Madrid goal in USA | Watch in UK
Minute 86: Good luck, Barcelona! Pedri produced what could be considered the pass of the season near midfield, taking a ball close to his shoulders and launching it perfectly after a run by Raphinha down the left. But as the Brazilian held on, he found himself at too tight an angle and his shot deflected off Jan Oblak.
Moments later, Barcelona recycles the ball and Pedri is the one who should play at the right back, but he can only make a clumsy save from Oblak, and he goes out for a corner!Barcelona are back in the lead!
Minute 80: Marc Casado is replaced by Eric García, while Barcelona makes a replacement at the base of the midfield. Moments later, Dani Olmo shoots from very close and close to the post.
Minute 77: Opportunity, Atlético de Madrid! Moments after Lewandowski’s miss, Iñaki Peña made a brilliant save to keep the game level! He rejected Pablo Barrios! He breaks free on the left and has the goalkeeper to beat, but Pena sticks out his right leg.
Shortly after, Robin Le Normand is booked for hauling down Pedri in transition as Barcelona looked to break the other way. This game has sprung to life!
76th m in: Chance, Barcelona! ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI FLUBS A BRILLIANT CHANCE TO SCORE! How has that happened?!?!
The ball is switched brilliantly to the far post for Ferran Torres right on the end line and he taps the ball laterally to Lewandowski free on goal only three yards from the line, but he completely whiffs at the ball and the chance is gone! You would have expected him to score that 100 times out of 100!
LEWANDOWSKI MISSES A HUGE CHANCE! pic.twitter.com/KIGrpwJptD
74th min: Antoine Griezmann, who’s been utterly invisible against Barcelona yet again, is replaced by Alexander Sorloth for the final 15 minutes. Barcelona remains the only La Liga opponent against whom Griezmann has not scored against for Atletico Madrid.
Robin Le Normand enters to update Marcos Llorente.
Minute 66: Good luck, Barcelona! Once back, Raphinha unlocks Atlético Madrid’s backline with a delightful move towards Robert Lewandowski on the backline, but the striker fails to do so and there is no one in the post to touch the ball as it crosses the open goal. !
62nd minute: Koke will enter Atletico Madrid’s midfield in place of Conor Gallagher. The England foreigner took part in this new attacking move, but it is his latest contribution to the match. Nahuel Molina also enters to reposition the invisible Giuliano Simeone.
Barcelona responded shortly after by bringing in Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres to upgrade Fermín López and Gavi.
Minute 60: GOAL! ATLÉTICO DE MADRID! VISITORS ARE LEVEL OF NOTHING!It’s Rodrigo de Paul with a winger cut off after an attack that failed!
A breakaway down the left flank by Julián Álvarez ended in a relief for Antoine Griezmann, but the pass was good for the Frenchman and it seemed that was the end of that play. Instead, the ball cuts through Marc Casado’s outstretched leg, and falls directly to De Paul, who attacks it from deep, and makes no mistake from 25 yards, burying the ball at the far post!
VIDEO: Watch De Paul’s goal in the United States
3 – Rodrigo de Paul ?? has scored three goals in his last four games in @LaLiga, the same as in his previous 53 games in the competition. 50% of the goals he’s scored for #AtléticoDeMadrid ?⚪️ have been from outside the box (7/14). Punch. pic.twitter.com/rkrHdtiOXe
Minute 57: Good luck, Barcelona! RAPHINHA PUT HIS EXPLOSIVE EFFORT ON THE CROSSBOARD! Pedri frees the Brazilian on the right and Raphinha tries a sensational clip on Jan Oblak but makes him take off from the most sensitive post.
On the rebound, Robert Lewandowski tries to attack it but slips and only clatters Axel Witsel who’s down and needs treatment.
56th minute: Julián Álvarez does well to receive a quick pass from Pau Cubarsi, beating the young defender to the ball, but Cubarsi stays right on his hip and gets an important dispossessed touch at the last imaginable moment before Álvarez takes a shot.
Everything Atleti has now has purely arrived on the counter, they have no preparation to speak of.
Minute 54: Robert Lewandowski is brought down in the most sensitive part of the penalty area by Axel Witsel, a few centimeters from the penalty area. Witsel, who had just entered, received a yellow card for this bad tackle.
This gives the hosts a very damaging loose shot to the left of the midfield, and Lewandowski takes it but crashes the ball directly into the wall.
Moments later, Pedri heads towards the most sensible corner from a damaging position on the right, but navigates it very high. Barcelona remains in this match, there has been nothing notable to replace it since half-time.
Minute 52: Atlético de Madrid is forced to make a replacement with the dismissal of José Giménez, their most experienced player and captain. It turns out that he suffers pain and frustration in his face when he is replaced by Axel Witsel.
Minute 48: Good luck, Barcelona! Fermín López makes himself visible on purpose thanks to a fantastic vertical pass from Pedri, but it is rejected by Jan Oblak! A very good first stop of elegance to keep the deficit at one!
From an Atletico Madrid perspective, though, that’s an ugly chance to give up as it looked very similar to the one which opened the scoring! It came off a horrible giveaway by Jose Gimenez who attempted a switch but passed it right to Raphinha in the central attacking area.
Start of the 2nd Half: Resumption at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona. There are no adjustments in any of the aspects yet, which is a marvel from Atletico Madrid’s perspective.
HALFTIME: Barcelona 1-0 Atletico Madrid
Complete and utter domination by Barcelona for the first 40 minutes of the game, with Pedri’s goal the exclamation mark. Atletico Madrid looked as if they had something to say in the final five minutes before halftime, but they have been far and away second-best in this game.
With just the one goal for Barcelona at the end of all that attacking pressure, it will be interesting to see how Diego Simeone puts together any tactical or personnel changes at the break. Atletico Madrid are once again being humbled on the road at Barcelona, something that’s become a regular occurrence over the past two decades.
23 – Teams from the five most sensible leagues in Europe with the maximum goals scored in the first part of their matches this season. 23 – #BARCELONA ??22 – Bayer Leverkusen21 – PSG21 – Inter20 – Bayern MunichTuned. pic. twitter. com/kCobdIhTHF
40th min: Atletico Madrid look to be on the breakaway as Conor Gallagher does well to spring Julian Alvarez up front, but the famed Barcelona offside trap works to perfection and Alvarez is caught leaning just a fraction too soon.
37th minute: Raphinha is surely cooking today as he shoots at Conor Gallagher to get loose on the right touchline. He was stripped shortly after as he looked to get rid of another defender in the same way, but so far he is giving Atlético Madrid players nightmares.
Minute 30: GOAL! BARCELONA! AN ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS OPENING GOAL FROM PEDRI!!!!! A truly sensational combination with Gavi, and it’s happening!!
The Barcelona midfielder crosses the Atlético de Madrid midfield and hits Gavi, who makes a brilliant turn to break free from a defender and complete the one-two with Pedri. Thanks to the goal, Pedri only has to beat Jan Oblak, and he throws it low into the corner! What a glorious combination!
VIDEO: Watch Pedri goal in USA | Watch in UK
Come with Pedri! ?#BarçaAtleti | #LaLigaHighlights pic. twitter. com/LBfBGs7YRT
Minute 25: Opportunity, Barcelona! The tension continues for Barcelona and Gavi shoots wide with a header!Raphinha, who has been brilliant so far, is the one who sends the cross on a plate to the near post, but Gavi cannot hit the target, putting an intelligent force into the effort but shooting beyond the post.
Minute 21: Good luck, Barcelona! The match was interrupted so VAR could take a closer look at an incident in which a Barcelona cross eluded two strikers and cut Giuliano Simeone on the elbow. The culprits of the replay, however, are not convinced, as no merit was taken away from the incident as two strikers. He breathed in purposeful attempts as the ball passed. Thank you to the referees for showing common sense!
On the eventual corner, Inigo Martinez attempts a powerful hit from about 10 yards out shaded right, but Jan Oblak has his near post covered and palms the ball away with two hands!
18th minute: Atletico Madrid controlled Barcelona’s attack, but didn’t get much either. In the end, the visitors were self-conscious and had a speculative chance on a set piece near the flag in the right corner, but the brilliant delivery was extended and cleared.
Minute 9: Barcelona continues to maintain all attacking possession, pushing Atlético de Madrid back into its defensive third. Raphinha was an absolute risk on the left, forcing Atleti into moments of emergency defense as a last resort. Obviously, they are the first steps of the procedure. .
4th min: Good luck, Barcelona! The home team had the advantage from the start, as Atlético de Madrid blocked two transparent chances right in front of the goal! Raphinha’s effort was the greater of the two as he shot from the most sensitive right corner of the area only to see it deflected!
Raphinha with a chance hatched!#BarçaAtleti ⏐ #LaLigaHighlights pic. twitter. com/dxdLzn58EF
Home: The two best teams in the La Liga standings are positioned in Barcelona!
15 mins to kickoff: We’ve spoken already about Atletico Madrid’s horrible recent record against Barcelona, but here’s one number to really put it into perspective: Atleti have not won a league game at Barcelona since February of 2006.
Lamine Jamal is more than a year away!Can their recent form this season push them to oppose this unfortunate fate in the opposite way to today’s Catalan giants?
?: Atlético Madrid’s coach Diego Simeone has never won a match away at Barcelona in 17 attempts in all competitions. He has recorded 7 draws and 10 defeats while visiting Barça. pic.twitter.com/8DewZKMhKr
30 mins to kickoff: The all-time top goal scorer in this league fixture is none other than Lionel Messi, with his 26 La Liga goals for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid — and 32 if you count all competitions. For the visitors today, their all-time top goal scorer is Paco Campos with 12, not even half Messi’s career total.
?️ From the Vault: The ? ? Atleti#BarçaAtleti pic. twitter. com/9aSuPqVWH1
45 minutes before kick-off: Both groups have opted for a consistent starting lineup given their available squad, but either of them have made adjustments in midfield. Conor Gallagher of Atlético de Madrid and Gavi of Barcelona bring a large number of frames to the center of the park.
The most attractive facet is who is in charge of the bench. Frenkie de Jong and Dani Olmo are also not at Barcelona, the latter having not scored a goal since the beginning of November.
For Atlético Madrid, Samuel Lino hooked up at half-time in the win over Getafe last time out and is replaced by a natural midfielder in Gallagher. Could this mean moving away from the 4-4-2 and putting Antoine Griezmann in the 10 with Simeone? And Álvarez in front? We’ll see how it goes.
An hour before kick-off: Barcelona’s line-up also moved forward a little and there are no oddities in Hansi Flick’s eleven either. Lamine Yamal is still out with an ankle injury, and Fermín López replaces him on the wing in place of the red-hot Ferrán Torres. Gavi enters midfield in just his third start of the championship season since returning from a torn ACL.
Boss Flick will not be on the touchline as he serves out his two-match suspension.
1 hour and 15 minutes before kick-off: Atletico Madrid unveiled their starting XI 15 minutes earlier. There are no surprises in Diego Simeone’s eleven, with a replacement when English foreigner Conor Gallagher enters the line-up in place of Samuel Lino.
1 hour and 30 minutes before kick-off: Atlético de Madrid puts on its modern gray jerseys today. A truly magnificent kit!
? pic.twitter.com/SzCTAWJhUN
1 hour forty-five minutes before kick-off: Ferran Torres has been in good form on the Barcelona bench lately, replacing the elder Robert Lewandowski to finish off Fites. The Manchester City striker claims that he has been a better player lately thanks to Lewandowski and claims that before this attack he tried to be “like a sponge” to mold himself from the outstanding Polish striker.
2 hours before kick-off: The juxtaposition of Atlético Madrid’s recent league status and their recent history against Barcelona couldn’t be more contrasting.
Atleti have won 11 consecutive games in all competitions, adding the last six in the League. However, they have lost five times in a row to Barcelona in the league and once in their last 16, without scoring in their last 4 games.
Even crazier, electric Antoine Griezmann has never scored for Atletico Madrid against Barcelona in a league match, scoring just one goal in 15 appearances, and helped in a 1-1 draw in 2018.
Could this replace the present day? Griezmann and Atletico Madrid’s recent form indicates that they now have the possibility, in a long time, to turn this terrible streak around.
❗️Antoine Griezmann has scored against 29 of the 30 teams he has faced with Atlético de Madrid in La Liga. He simply didn’t score against Barcelona. @mundodeportivo pic. twitter. com/EQd7AibZ5F
This top-level La Liga match begins at the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium on Saturday, December 21 at nine at night. local time in Barcelona, Spain. Here’s how this era reached some of the world’s major territories:
Barcelona will be without teenage superstar Lamine Yamal with an ankle injury, which will keep him sidelined until early 2025. Hansi Flick’s side have failed to win any of the four league games the 17-year-old has already won. lost in 2024/25 with Fermín López. potentially replacing him in the starting XI.
Also missing is none other than the aforementioned head man himself, as Flick serves the second of a two-match suspention.
Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal and Marc-Andre ter Stegen also remain injured, with the Blaugrana on the hunt, something fans have become accustomed to in recent years, today they return Ansu Fati to the bench, while Ronaldo Araujo is also out. among the substitutes. while recovering from a long-term hamstring problem.
Barcelona line-up (4-3-3): Peña (GK) – Kounde, Cubarsi, Martínez, Balde – Gavi, Casado, Pedri – López, Lewandowski, Raphinha.
Subs del Barcelona (12): Szczesny (GK), Astralaga (GK), Araujo, E. García, S. Domínguez, G. Martín, De Jong, Olmo, Torre, Fati, F. Torres, Víctor.
Diego Simeone has not confirmed any fresh injury concerns in his camp and he could stick with an unchanged team from last weekend’s 1-0 over Getafe. Only Angel Correa was expected to be absent thanks to a muscle injury, but even he is available off the bench.
Despite scoring a winner off the bench last time out, Alexander Sorloth could remain amongst the substitutes, with Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann in sparkling form up front.
Atletico Madrid starting lineup (4-4-2): Oblak (GK) — Llorente, Gimenez, Lenglet, Galan — Simeone, De Paul, Barrios, Gallagher — Alvarez, Griezmann.
Atletico Madrid subs (12): Musso (GK), Azpilicueta, Le Normand, Witsel, Riquelme, Reinildo, Lino, Molina, Lemar, Koke, Correa, Sorloth.
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Kyle Bonn has a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Syracuse University and revels in more than a decade covering soccer globally. Kyle specializes in football tactics and betting and has a degree in knowledge analysis. Kyle also directs television programs for Wake Forest soccer and has previously competed on NBC Soccer and IMG College. When he’s not covering the game, he’s long been a stalwart with the New York Giants, Yankees and Fulham. Kyle enjoys playing racquetball and video games when he’s not watching or covering sports.