Barcelona ends Atletico’s winning run, moves closer to title

MADRID: In a slump and facing the hottest team in Spain, Barcelona came through with an important win for its title hopes and quelled any fears of a late collapse. Barcelona ended a three-game winless streak — and Atletico Madrid’s 13-game unbeaten run — with a hard-fought 1-0 win on Sunday to stay on track for its first Spanish league title in four years. The home win restored the team’s comfortable 11-point lead over Real Madrid with eight rounds remaining.

The victory also halted a six-game winning streak by Atletico, which lost ground to Madrid in the fight for second place. Madrid, which is focused on the Champions League and the Copa del Rey final, beat Celta Vigo 2-0 at home on Saturday. Ferran Torres scored a 44th-minute winner at Camp Nou with a well-placed low shot from just inside the area to end Barcelona’s recent problems entering the final stretch.

It hadn’t scored in three straight games after being humiliated at home by Madrid 4-0 in the Copa del Rey semifinals and held to scoreless draws against modest league opponents in Girona and Getafe. “We had to win no matter what, it was an important match to keep us on track to winning the league,” Torres said. “It was difficult, against a team that was unbeaten in 13 matches and that was one of the hottest teams this season.” It was the 23rd clean sheet in the league for Barcelona, which last won the league title in 2019.

It has conceded only nine goals in 30 league matches this season. Third-place Atletico, which has the second-best defense with 22 goals conceded, trails Madrid by five points. It was the third straight win by Barcelona over Diego Simeone’s team, whose last win against the Catalan club was in 2021.