MADRID: Barcelona battled back from two goals down to beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 and land an important blow in the Spanish title race on Sunday.
Lamine Yamal struck in the 92nd minute and Ferran Torres in the 98th to help take the Catalans back top of the table after Real Madrid beat Villarreal on Saturday to briefly claim pole position.
Barcelona have a game in hand on the champions with both sides level on 60 points, while Atletico trail the top two by four after they crumbled at home against Hansi Flick’s side to end a disastrous week following their Champions League elimination.
Having twice been caught out late by Atletico this season, this time it was Barcelona’s turn to provide the sting in the tail, extending their unbeaten streak to 18 matches across all competitions.
Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth put Atletico ahead before Robert Lewandowski and Torres hit back for Barca, who went on to win in stoppage time.
Flick selected Marc Casado in midfield, with Frenkie de Jong not fit enough to be included in the matchday squad.
The German had warned his players to stay focussed after they conceded a 96th minute goal in December to surrender the lead at the top of the table to Atletico in a 2-1 home defeat.
Barcelona also conceded two late goals in the Copa del Rey semifinal first leg to draw 4-4 against Diego Simeone’s side in February.
They played within themselves in the first half, overly cautious and conserving energy, failing to create many openings.
Teenage winger Yamal created one for himself but fired wide with Jan Oblak’s goal gaping, while Lewandowski directed a header at the Slovenian stopper.
At the other end Atletico wanted a penalty when Inigo Martinez pulled back Marcos Llorente in the area but they were not given it.
Barcelona’s best chance of the first half came when Pedri played in Lewandowski, who hit the top of the crossbar with a powerful drive. From the resulting goal kick, Atletico found the opener.
The hosts worked the ball to Griezmann, who threaded a brilliant pass across the area to Giuliano Simeone, with Alvarez finishing from his cut-back.
It provided a moment of joy for the former Manchester City striker who felt deep frustration in midweek when his penalty against Real Madrid was controversially disallowed for a supposed double touch on the ball, as Atletico were eliminated in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.
Yamal probed after the break as Barca looked for a way back in and Simeone turned to his bench to freshen up his side, who played 120 draining minutes against Los Blancos.
The coach introduced Sorloth and Conor Gallagher and they combined for Atletico’s second goal.
Atletico put together another fine team move with Griezmann heavily involved, before Gallagher squared to perennial super-sub Sorloth to net his 11th league goal of the season, despite just nine starts.
Barcelona had complaints about a Rodrigo De Paul handball in the build-up dismissed and they turned their anger into an instant response.
Martinez drove forward with the ball and slung it into the box for Lewandowski, who controlled well and powered a low finish past Oblak to spark the comeback.
Substitute Torres netted the equalizer when Raphinha, on an othewise quiet night in the capital for the Brazilian, crossed from the right.
With Atletico shaken, Barcelona took full advantage, with Yamal’s deflected shot from distance sending them ahead in stoppage time.
Torres bagged his second late on to round off a win which could prove decisive come the end of the season.
Barca mount late comeback to stun Atletico in thriller
https://arab.news/4q79c
Barca mount late comeback to stun Atletico in thriller
- Torres bagged his second late on to round off a win which could prove decisive come the end of the season
Egypt switches off Liverpool after Salah fallout
- Liverpool games once drew wall-to-wall crowds in Cairo whenever Salah was playing
- Manager Arne Slot left Egyptian star on the bench for three consecutive games
CAIRO: At a cafe in a bustling Cairo neighborhood, Liverpool games once drew wall-to-wall crowds, but with Mohamed Salah off the pitch, his Egyptian fans would now rather play cards or quietly doomscroll than watch the Reds play.
Salah, one of the world’s greatest football stars, delivered an unusually sharp rebuke of manager Arne Slot after he was left on the bench for three consecutive games.
Adored by fans as the “Egyptian king,” Salah told reporters he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club he has called home for seven-and-a-half years.
The outburst divided Liverpool fans worldwide — but in the Cairo cafe, people knew what side they were on, and Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan went unnoticed.
“We’re upset, of course,” said Adel Samy, 40, a longtime Salah fan, who remembers the cafe overflowing with fans whenever he was playing.
On Tuesday evening, only a handful of customers sat at rickety tables — some hunched over their phones, others shuffling cards, barely glancing at the screen.
“He doesn’t deserve what’s happening,” Samy said.
Islam Hosny, 36, who helps run the family cafe, said the street outside used to be packed with “people standing on their feet more than those who sat on chairs” whenever Salah played.
“The cafe would be as full as an Ahly-Zamalek derby,” he said, referring to Egypt’s fiercest football rivalry.
“Now because they know he’s not playing, no one comes.”
At a corner table, a customer quietly asks staff to switch to another match.
‘Time to leave’
Since joining the Merseyside team in 2017, Salah has powered the club’s return to the top of European football, inspiring two Premiere League titles, a Champions League triumph and victories at FA Cup, League Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
With 250 goals in 420 appearances, he is Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer of all time, and for Egyptians, the country’s greatest sporting export.
But this season, Salah has struggled for form, scoring five goals in 19 appearances as Liverpool have won just five of their last 16 matches in all competitions, slipping to eighth in the Champions League with 12 points.
At the cafe in the Shoubra neighborhood of Cairo, the sense of disillusionment gripped fans.
“Cristiano Ronald, Messi and all players go through dips,” said Mohamed Abdelaziz, 40, but they still play.
Shady Hany, 18, shook his head. “How can a player like Mohamed Salah sit on the bench for so long?” he said.
“It is time for Salah to leave.”
Slot said on Monday he had “no clue” whether Salah would play for Liverpool again.
Salah, due to join Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations after next weekend’s home match against Brighton, has around 18 months remaining on the £400,000-a-week contract he signed in April.
Egyptian sports pundit Hassan Khalafallah believes Salah’s motivations lie elsewhere.
“If he cared that much about money, he would have accepted earlier offers from Gulf clubs,” he said.
“What matters to Salah is his career and his legacy.”
Salah’s journey from the Nile Delta village of Nagrig to global stardom at Anfield has inspired millions.
His rise is a classic underdog story — starting at Egypt’s El Mokawloon, moving to Switzerland’s Basel, enduring a tough spell at Chelsea, finding form at AS Roma and ultimately becoming one of the Premier League’s greatest players.
“Salah is an Egyptian star we are all proud of,” said Hany.
