10-man Barcelona secures impressive win against Atletico Madrid

MADRID — Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid had it all, as Barca won 4-2 in the Spanish league despite playing more than 20 minutes with 10 men after Dani Alves was sent off on Sunday.

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The result ended Barcelona’s five-game winless streak against Atletico in all competitions and allowed the Catalan club to overtake Diego Simeone’s team for fourth place in the league. Barcelona returned to the Champions League qualification spots for the first time since the third round.

Barcelona conceded early but rallied to a 4-1 lead before Atletico threatened to get back into the game. Luis Suarez – playing in front of Barcelona fans at the Camp Nou Stadium 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 video review saw him stepping on Yannick Carrasco’s leg from behind.

Barcelona hadn’t beaten Atletico since a league match in December 2019. It had gone 11 consecutive matches without defeating either Atletico or Real Madrid in any competition. Atletico hasn’t beaten Barcelona at the Camp Nou since 2006.

Atletico, which paid the price for an unusually dreadful performance by its defense, was coming off a league win over Valencia but had lost its previous three matches in all competitions.

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Barcelona entered the game one point behind Atletico in the standings. It trails third-place Real Betis by two points and second-place Sevilla by nine points. The Catalan club is 12 points behind league leader Real Madrid.

“It was an important match and we are glad we got the victory to get back into the Champions League places,” said Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo, who scored one of the goals