After Real Madrid edged past Villarreal, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona needed wins to stay in the title race. With the season so tight, any dropped points could be costly.
Despite their recent Champions League exit to Real, Atletico started strong against an in-form Barcelona, who had been scoring freely in recent matches. However, Barca once again showed resilience, overturning a two-goal deficit in the final 20 minutes to win 4-2.
It was their first league comeback from two goals down since September 2023 and Atletico’s first La Liga loss after leading at halftime since March 2018.
