Barça end winless run against Atlético; Madrid struggle

MADRID, Feb 7: Barcelona showed Sunday why it shouldn’t be discarded just yet as a threat in Spanish football.
The Catalan club beat Atlético Madrid 4-2 in the Spanish league to end a five-game winless run against Diego Simeone’s team. Barcelona overtook Atlético to move to fourth and is back in the Champions League qualification places for the first time since the third round.
Real Madrid increased its gap at the top over Sevilla to six points by beating Granada 1-0 at home.
Barcelona played well to take a big lead before hanging tough while playing more than 20 minutes with a man down.
Xavi Hernández’s team conceded early but rallied to a 4-1 lead before Atlético threatened to get back into the game in the second half. Luis Suárez – playing in front of Barcelona fans at the Camp Nou Stadium for the first time since joining Atlético – pulled the visitors closer in the 58th, then Dani Alves was sent off with a straight red card in the 69th after video review saw him stepping on Yannick Carrasco’s leg from behind.
Barcelona held on to earn a victory in what has been a challenging season so far.
Barcelona hadn’t beaten Atlético since a league match in December 2019. It had gone 11 consecutive matches without defeating either Atlético or Real Madrid in any competition. Atlético hasn’t beaten Barcelona at the Camp Nou since 2006. Simone’s team paid the price for a dreadful performance by its defense.
Barcelona came into the game one point behind Atlético in the standings. It trails Real Betis by two points and second-place Sevilla by nine points. Barcelona is 15 points behind Madrid.
Madrid struggles
Madrid had a hard time against relegation-threatened Granada, with Marco Asensio scoring the winner in the 74th.
Madrid had been winless in its last two matches, being eliminated by Athletic Bilbao in the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey and held by Elche to a draw at home in the league. Carlo Ancelotti’s team was without Karim Benzema and Vinícius Júnior, its top two forwards this season.
Other Results
Villarreal won 2-0 at third-place Real Betis to end a four-match winning streak by Manuel Pellegrini’s team in all competitions while Valencia’s winless streak in the league reached five straight games after it was held by Real Sociedad to a 0-0 draw. (AP)