Emmanuel LANGELLIER, Media365, published on Sunday December 22, 2024 at 10:27 a.m.
Saturday evening, the La Liga clash saw the final success of Atlético de Madrid on the pitch of FC Barcelona (2-1). A victory, not really deserved, acquired in the last moments by Griezmann's partners.
In the shock of the 18th day of La Liga, FC Barcelona was clearly above Atlético de Madrid on Saturday evening on its lawn. But we know it well, in football, dominating is not winning, you have to make it happen, and you must especially be very wary when the opponent is called Atlético. The Catalans have had the bitter experience of this. Formidable in these conditions, even if they are also capable of making a little play, the Colchoneros of a discreet Antoine Griezmann won the Spanish poster by overthrowing Barça (2-1) in the final moments at the Olympic stadium of the Catalan city. Rodrigo De Paul (60th) first responded to Pedri (30th) then Alexander Sorloth crucified Inaki Pena after a counter and added time (90th + 6). For the first time, Diego Simeone won in Barça's lair and Atlético went to the top of the standings by overtaking the Catalan club.
Raphinha: “The defeat is my responsibility”
Raphinha, who found the crossbar (57th) then missed a great opportunity (85th), like Robert Lewandowski before him (75th), took this bitter setback for himself. “I think we played very well. The team performed very well. I usually say that we do not control the result and that we control the performance on the pitch. I think today (Saturday) we played very well. I particularly accept this defeat. In the end I missed a goal and I think about 5 minutes later they equalized and then I missed a pass which caused their 2nd goal. Today's defeat is my responsibility,” the Brazilian striker said on Barça's television channel.
From Paul: “When we suffer more, we also appreciate more”
In the camp opposite, it was a “party”. Atlético de Madrid concluded the year with a 12th consecutive victory in all competitions, including 7 in La Liga. “We are very happy to win. I've never won here before. We suffered a lot, we started badly. After the 1-0, we kept our clean sheet and at the last minute, Sorloth gave us the victory,” reacted Jan Oblak, the Madrid goalkeeper and captain, at the microphone of Movistar. “When we suffer more, we also appreciate more. We faced a great rival. We were playing for first place. There were a lot of things. We worked very hard. It is the result of hard work. It’s well deserved for the team to end the year like this,” said De Paul, the precious Argentine midfielder.
