Alexander Sørloth stuns Barcelona with last-gasp winner for Atlético Madrid
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They were 95 minutes into the battle that been built as the clash that would decide the title, the final seconds slipping away, when a man who looks for all the world like a norse warrior delivered the decisive blow. Atlético Madrid had suffered, they had resisted and, in truth, they had probably longed for that final whistle to go, and then suddenly Alex Sørloth thumped in another late winner. In doing so he sent Atlético Madrid top the table at Christmas and their coach, staff and subs sprinting onto the pitch.
![[Rodrigo De Paul equalises for Atlético Madrid.]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/402f77da6f7115679dd96f0362957a61480947b5/0_118_3526_2116/master/3526.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Barcelona’s fans meanwhile turned and headed straight for the exit, unable to believe what had just happened. What had happened was this: on a night when they had more than enough chances to win it, including deep into added time, in which Jan Oblak, the goalkeeper had been the best player on the pitch, with Pedri, they had somehow been beaten. It is the first time they have ever fallen at the hands of a Diego Simeone led Atlético team and it hurt.
For Atlético meanwhile it was a liberation, maybe even the call of destiny. The perfect night Oblak called it. How fast this had shifted, how unexpectedly. How significantly too, and not just here but the season. Life had changed for both of these sides since the end of October, and the league had changed with it. Barcelona had been through what Hansi Flick described as “shit November” but then been beaten in December too, and at home against relegation threatened Leganes. Over six games, they had collected just five of eighteen possible points, a title that had looked theirs to lose after the clásico seemingly being lost in record time; Atlético, meanwhile, had won eleven in a row, six out of six in la Liga. From ten points down, they had moved level with a game in hand.
