Madrid: Atletico Madrid relinquished a two-goal lead in its 2-4 loss to Barcelona in the La Liga in another setback for the club after it was eliminated by Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Playing at the Metropolitano stadium four days after they lost to Madrid in a penalty shootout, Atletico led Barcelona 2-0 at halftime on Sunday but conceded a pair of stoppage-time goals to waste a chance to overtake the Catalan club for second place and move within a point of league leaders Madrid.
“It was a weird game, we did well in the first half and had the game under control after scoring twice,” Atletico player Marcos Llorente said. “I do think that the 120 minutes that we had to play in the Champions League made a difference, there was a letdown in the end.”
The defeat left Atletico four points behind their two rivals in the league, with Barcelona having a game in hand. Madrid won 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday.
Lamine Yamal scored two minutes into stoppage time and Ferran Torres six minutes later to give Barcelona the gritty come-from-behind victory.
“It’s a statement win for us, allowing us to regain the lead with a game in hand,” Yamal said.
Julián Álvarez had put Atletico ahead after a breakaway just before halftime. It had been an unusual double touch by Álvarez in the penalty shootout against Madrid that led to Atletico’s elimination from the Champions League on Wednesday.
Atletico added to the lead with a goal by substitute Alexander Sorloth from inside the area in the 70th. Robert Lewandowski, the league’s leading scorer, gave Barcelona hope by finding the net in the 72nd, and Torres equalized with a header after a cross by Raphinha in the 78th.
“We have to congratulate them,” Atletico coach Diego Simeone said.
“There was a bit of luck, which you must have sometimes. We had a few chances in counterattacks but didn’t take advantage of them. Barcelona is a great team.”
Party time for Newcastle
london: After 70 long years the wait is over for Newcastle.
The Saudi-backed club beat Liverpool 2-1 to win the English League Cup and end an agonising trophy drought.
Dan Burn and Alexander Isak scored either side of halftime on Sunday to seal victory at Wembley. And even though Liverpool substitute Federico Chiesa set up a tense finish to the final with a goal in added time, nothing was going to stand in Newcastle’s way.
“After 70 years we can now say we are the champions again,” a tearful Newcastle captain Bruno Guimaraes said.
“It’s one of the best days of my life.”
Newcastle’s last major domestic trophy was the FA Cup in 1955. It won the now-defunct Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969.
This was its first piece of silverware since being bought by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund in 2021 - a deal that was expected to transform the fortunes of one of English soccer’s most iconic clubs.
Burn’s powerful header opened the scoring just before halftime and Isak doubled the lead in the 52nd minute.