Atlético de Madrid puts pressure on Barça for the LaLiga lead

A goal from Julián Álvarez in the 66th minute was enough for Atlético de Madrid to momentarily regain the lead in LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25. The 'colchoneros' narrowly defeated Athletic Club (1-0) and, now, they lead Real Madrid by two points, who fell in their visit to Real Betis (2-1) on Saturday. Carlo Ancelotti's team will finish matchday 26 in third place in the standings, behind the 'rojiblancos' and a FC Barcelona that must win against Real Sociedad in Montjuïc on Sunday to return to first place.

The match at the Metropolitano was very even from start to finish. Athletic was slightly superior in the first half but lacked firepower in attack to hurt the 'colchonero' defense. In the second half, Diego Simeone's team took a few more risks and, thanks to Julián Álvarez's tenth goal in the tournament, managed to secure an undeserved victory, as the Basques had a clear double opportunity in the 75th minute to equalize the score, with two shots hitting the post.

Barça can regain the LaLiga lead this Sunday

With the victory, Atlético reached 56 points, two more than Barça and Real Madrid (54). Hansi Flick's team is now obliged to win at home to surpass the 'colchoneros' by one point, while the 'merengue' team will, whether they like it or not, remain two or three points behind the lead. The defeat against Betis was Carlo Ancelotti's team's fourth in the tournament and confirms the decline of the 'Casa Blanca' in the league.

In the last five matchdays, Madrid has only one victory, two draws, and two losses, accumulating 5 points out of 15 possible. Barça, for its part, arrives at the match against Real Sociedad with five consecutive wins and is unbeaten in 14 matches this 2025 across all competitions. The last setback for the blaugrana in the tournament was on matchday 20, against Getafe in Madrid (1-1).

⚽Results from matchday 26 of LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25