With a brace scored by Fermin Lopes, Barcelona snatched a valuable victory from its host Atletico Madrid 2-1, after falling behind by an early goal, to strengthen its lead in the Spanish League with 33 points, 3 points ahead of Real Madrid. In the rest of the matches of the twelfth stage, Real Betis maintained fourth place by defeating Elche, while Real Sociedad defeated Rayo Vallecano, and Villarreal defeated Getafe.
Published on: 09/11/2026 - 00:18
Barcelona overturned a goal deficit against its host Atletico Madrid to a thrilling 2-1 victory, on Sunday, at the top of the twelfth round of the Spanish Football League, thanks to a brace scored by Fermín Lopes, so that the Catalan team continued its position at the top of the standings.
Atletico took an early lead through Argentine Giuliano Simeone in the tenth minute, before Lopes equalized for Barcelona before the end of the first half (45), and returned to score the winning goal in the 66th minute.
Barcelona raised its score to 33 points in first place, three points ahead of its rival Real Madrid, which rose to second place by defeating Valencia 3-0 on Saturday, while Atletico fell to third place, two points behind the royal team.
The confrontation constituted an important test for Barcelona, led by its German coach, Hansi Flick, after the team faced difficulties against its direct competitors this season, as it lost at home to Real Madrid 1-2 in El Clasico, then fell to Paris Saint-Germain 2-4 in the Champions League.
Atletico entered the match strongly, relying on its defensive organization and the speed of its transition from defense to attack, in an attempt to exploit the spaces behind Barcelona players.
The first minutes witnessed two dangerous opportunities for both teams, as Slovakian defender David Hanko rose to the ball from a corner kick and headed it against the crossbar of Barcelona's goal in the seventh minute.
The Catalan team responded quickly, after the ball reached Pedri, who fired a powerful shot with his left foot, but the crossbar also prevented him from opening the scoring.
In the tenth minute, the hosts were able to take the lead when Giuliano Simeone received a pass from his compatriot, Julián Alvarez, and turned it from close range past goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
Atletico continued to threaten its guest's goal with counterattacks and set pieces, and Hanko almost added the second goal in the 21st minute, but was unable to reach the ball after a free kick.
On the other hand, Barcelona found it difficult to penetrate Atletico's organized defense, and only shot one ball between the posts and the crossbar during the first forty minutes of the match.
Despite the lack of opportunities, the Catalan team succeeded in equalizing before the end of the first half, when the ball returned to Fermin Lopes after his pass was deflected, and he found himself in front of the goal and shot from close range past Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak (45).
Barcelona started the second half with an offensive surge, and Lamine Jamal almost gave them the lead in the 47th minute, after he received the ball deep and passed Alex Grimaldo with a dribble, before shooting a ground ball with his left foot that passed near the far post.
Atletico responded with a quick counterattack in the 55th minute, taking advantage of a wrong pass by Lopes in the middle of the field, before the ball reached Koke, who sent a dropped pass behind Barcelona's defense towards Alvarez.
But the Argentine striker wasted the opportunity to advance, after he tried to drop the ball over goalkeeper Garcia with the sole of his right foot, so that it went over the crossbar.
Barcelona settled the confrontation in the 66th minute, following an attack led by Jamal from the right side, where he penetrated to the outskirts of the penalty area and passed a perfect through ball that penetrated the Atletico defense and reached Lopes, who shot it with one touch from a difficult position, so that it passed under goalkeeper Oblak and landed in the net.
With this goal, Lopes completed Barcelona's comeback in the score, giving his team 3 important points in the race for lead.
Betis is fixed in fourth place
In another match, Real Betis strengthened its position in fourth place with an away victory over Elche with two unanswered goals.
Betis waited until the final minutes to resolve the confrontation, as striker Rodrigo Riquelme opened the scoring in the 81st minute, just 4 minutes after he came on as a substitute for Moroccan international winger Abdel Samad Zalzouli.
Defender Marc Bartra added the second goal in the 89th minute, confirming the visitors' victory.
Real Betis achieved its second successive victory and eighth this season, raising its score to 26 points in fourth place.
As for Elche, it suffered its second loss in a row and the sixth since the beginning of the season, leaving its score frozen at 10 points in eighteenth place.
In another confrontation, Real Sociedad returned to winning ways by defeating its guest Rayo Vallecano 1-0, achieving its seventh victory this season.
Icelandic Uri Oscarsson scored the only goal of the match in the 67th minute, giving the Basque team 3 points after losing in the last round to its neighbor Athletic Bilbao 1-2, and later tied with French Lyon 1-1 in the European League, “Europa League”.
Real Sociedad raised its score to 22 points in fifth place, 4 points behind Real Betis.
For its part, Villarreal defeated Getafe with two straight goals, scored by Canadian Tajon Buchanan in the 80th minute and Carlos Romero in the first minute of stoppage time (90+1).
The Yellow Submarine team raised its score to 15 points in eighth place, while Getafe's score froze at 12 points in fifteenth place.
In a fifth match, the confrontation between Celta Vigo and Levante ended in a goalless draw.
With this result, Celta Vigo raised its score to 13 points in eleventh place, compared to 11 points for Levante in seventeenth place, one point ahead of the relegation zone.
France 24/AFP
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