LaLiga: Barcelona liquefies and concedes the draw, strong emotion in Valencia

Despite two goals in advance at the hour mark, FC Barcelona cracked in the final minutes and conceded a frustrating draw (2-2) on Saturday on the pitch at Celta Vigo during the fourteenth day of La Liga.

Beaten by Real Sociedad before the break, Barça, leader and author so far of an almost perfect run in the championship, lost the thread while they had the match in hand by conceding two goals in two minutes (84th , 86th) after the expulsion of the young Marc Casado (82nd), and continues a second poor performance in a row three days before the reception of Brest in the Champions League.

Without its prodigy Lamine Yamal, injured in the right ankle, the Catalan club had relied on its two strong men from the start of the season, the Brazilian Raphinha (15th, 1-0) and the Polish striker Robert Lewandowski (61st, 2 -0), who consolidated his position as top scorer in the championship with a 15th goal, in vain.

Still in the lead, FC Barcelona (1st, 34 points) offers its great rival Real Madrid (3rd, 27 points) the opportunity to come back four points in the event of a victory at its neighbor Leganés on Sunday (6:30 p.m.), with another late game to play.

French full-back Jules Koundé, decisive passer on Raphinha’s opener, despite himself brought Celta back into the match with a gross careless error (84th, 2-1).

Atlético overtakes Real, emotion in Valencia

Trailing 1-0 from the seventh minute on its Metropolitano pitch, Antoine Griezmann’s Atlético Madrid overthrew Alavés (2-1) at the end of the match and stole second place from its best enemy Real Madrid, for the instantly relegated to the third step of the podium.

Trapped at the start of the game by a penalty from Guridi (7th, 1-0), Diego Simeone’s men, for whom it was their 700th match on the Rojiblanco bench, turned the match around in the space of ten minutes thanks to another penalty from Antoine Griezmann (75th, 1-1) obtained by the Norwegian Alexander Sorloth, then author of the winning goal with the force of his right foot (86th, 2-1).

Three weeks after the deadly floods which affected its region, Valencia found the field and the victory at Mestalla against Betis Sevilla (4-2) and gave itself a little breath after a nightmarish start to the season.

Before the meeting, the legendary Valencian enclosure paid a poignant tribute to the victims of this tragedy which left at least 228 dead and caused immense material damage, with a tifo in the colors of the flag of the community of Valencia deployed on all the stands and the messages “stand up Valencians” and “united as always” including the names of the missing.

Players from both teams dedicated their goals to the victims, with Valencia eventually winning thanks to a double from their Spanish striker Hugo Duro. A symbolic victory, only the second this season in the championship, which allows the Che club (18th, 10 points), in sporting and financial difficulties, to temporarily leave its place at the bottom.

Later in the day, Girona, attractive at home, corrected its neighbor Espanyol Barcelona in the Catalan derby (4-1) and moved closer to the European places.

Carried by a very good Bryan Gil, the Spanish winger on loan from Tottenham, scorer and double decisive passer, Michel’s men provisionally climb to fifth place, tied with Mallorca (6th, 21 points), the nice surprise at the start of season.