FC Barcelona took advantage of Real Madrid’s slip in the 16th round of the Spanish football league and pulled away from arch-rivals in the title race. One day after David Alaba and Co. lost 2-1 at Villarreal, the Catalans beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 (1-0) and are now three points ahead of Real.
Match-winner for Barcelona in front of 63,493 spectators at Madrid’s Metropolitano Stadium in what ended up being a turbulent game with two exclusions was Ousmane Dembele’s 22nd-minute goal. In injury time of a hard-fought game, Barcelona’s Ferran Torres and Atletico’s Stefan Savic saw the red card after a fierce scuffle.
Defending champions Real suffered their second defeat of the season at Villarreal on Saturday and thus suffered an early setback in the new year. Villarreal had clear advantages in the first half but only took the lead early in the second 45 minutes. After a bad pass from Ferland Mendy, Yeremy made it 1-0 (47′). Karim Benzema equalized for Real from a hand penalty (60′), before Villarreal was awarded a penalty after a mishap by David Alaba.
Alaba mishap paves Villarreal win
The ÖFB team player slipped and accidentally touched a pass from Juan Foyth with his hand. Gerard Moreno safely converted the penalty imposed for this (63′), the final offensive by the guests brought nothing. Villarreal moved up to sixth behind Atletico with their eighth win.
In the first defeat against the “Yellow Submarine” since 2018, there was no Spaniard in the Real starting XI. According to data provider Opta, this was the first time this century, other media reported that it was a first in the club’s 120-year history.
