Lewandowski claims Barcelona vital win, Real Madrid suffer shock loss
by AFP · The42Updated at 22.45
Spanish La Liga results on Saturday:
- Real Sociedad 2 Levante 0
- Mallorca 2 Real Madrid 1
- Real Betis 0-0 Espanyol
- Atlético Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
German Bundesliga results on Saturday:
- Stuttgart 0 Borussia Dortmund 2
- Freiburg 2 Bayern Munich 3
- Werder Bremen 1 RB Leipzig 2
- Hoffenheim 1 Mainz 2
- Hamburg 1 Augsburg 1
- Bayer Leverkusen 6 Wolfsburg 3
- Borussia Mönchengladbach 2 Heidenheim 2
ROBERT LEWANDOWSKI SHOULDERED home a dramatic late winner for Barcelona as they edged Atletico Madrid 2-1 on Saturday to move seven points clear at the top of La Liga
Second-placed Real were beaten 2-1 at Mallorca earlier on, and Barca capitalised at the Metropolitano stadium to take a big step towards defending the league title.
Marcus Rashford pulled Barca level after Giuliano Simeone opened the scoring for the hosts in the first half.
Atletico midfielder Nico Gonzalez was sent off just before the break, and his team dug deep with 10 men to try and avoid defeat, which they almost managed.
Veteran Polish striker Lewandowski had other ideas and used his shoulder to deflect home a rebound from point-blank range after 87 minutes.
“We all knew what happened in the afternoon,” Barca defender Eric Garcia told DAZN.
“We knew that if we won today, we would be taking a big step (towards the title), so we’re very happy…
“They are a hard team to score against when they close up at the back; they defend very well, so the team did well.”
This was the first of a trilogy of matches between the sides, clashing in the Champions League quarter-finals over the next fortnight.
With little left to play for in La Liga, Atletico coach Diego Simeone rotated heavily with Wednesday’s visit to Camp Nou in mind.
His Barca counterpart, Hansi Flick, opted for Dani Olmo as a false nine to rest Lewandowski, while starting Rashford in place of the injured Raphinha on the left wing.
The England international, on loan from Manchester United, tested Juan Musso early on with a free-kick which the goalkeeper fielded comfortably.
At the other end, Antoine Griezmann, playing for Atletico for the first time since announcing his departure at the end of the season to MLS side Orlando City, was profligate.
The forward skipped into the box and cleverly nutmegged Gerard Martin, but his shot was too close to Barca stopper Joan Garcia to trouble the new Spain international.
Fermin Lopez was similarly wasteful at the other end, unable to find Rashford, who had a clear sight of goal, and prodding wide himself when Lamine Yamal sent him scuttling through with a sensational pass.
Barca’s 18-year-old star Yamal hit the post with a dinked effort after Lopez laid the ball off to him as the game flowed from end to end.
Atletico took the lead in the 39th minute through Giuliano Simeone, the coach’s son, bursting in behind Barca’s high defensive line onto Clement Lenglet’s pass and slamming past Garcia.
The visitors pulled level just three minutes later, Rashford exchanging passes with Olmo and drilling past Musso on only his third league start since January.
- Red card incidents -
Atletico were reduced to 10 men just before half-time when Gonzalez scythed down Yamal on the edge of the box as he ran towards goal.
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Barcelona defender Martin was dismissed early in the second half as he thumped the ball away but then clattered Thiago Almada with a high foot. However, after a VAR review, the red card was revoked, much to Atletico’s fury.
Barca substitute Ferran Torres, without a goal since January, was twice thwarted by Musso as the visitors probed for a winner but struggled to make their numerical advantage count.
Eventually, their winner came when Joao Cancelo cut his way into the penalty area and his shot was pushed out by Musso, only for wily striker Lewandowski to knock it home with his shoulder.
“We played a great first half… the red card penalised us, it’s very hard with one fewer player,” Musso told DAZN.
“I think it was a red card for them too, the referee saw it on the pitch… but this doesn’t take our confidence away.
“When it was 11 against 11, we were better; that gives us confidence.”
Earlier, Vedat Muriqi snatched Mallorca a surprise 2-1 La Liga win over Real Madrid on Saturday to deal Los Blancos a significant blow in the Spanish title race.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s side thought they had rescued a point after Eder Militao nodded home with two minutes remaining before Muriqi pounced in stoppage time to help the hosts climb to 17th.
Arbeloa started the game with Vinicius Junior on the bench, with Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in mind.
Madrid lacked spark in the first half, creating few notable openings. The best was for top scorer Kylian Mbappe, fit after a knee sprain that has troubled him for months.
Arda Guler rolled a ball in behind Mallorca’s defence for the French superstar to dart on to, but Leo Roman saved with his leg.
The goalkeeper denied Mbappe again after Eduardo Camavinga fed him, and Antonio Rudiger also nodded over from a corner.
Manu Morlanes threatened for Mallorca, heading just over, but Madrid did not heed the warning.
The midfielder opened the scoring a few minutes later, losing Camavinga and arriving in the box to fire Pablo Maffeo’s cross into the bottom corner past Andriy Lunin.
Leo Roman saved from Mbappe early in the second half as Madrid searched for an equaliser.
Arbeloa sent on Vinicius, Jude Bellingham and Militao for his first appearance since December after injury.
Madrid huffed and puffed but to little avail as Martin Demichelis’s Mallorca stayed solid at the back until the final stages.
They were eventually undone by Trent Alexander-Arnold’s corner, whipped towards Militao, who powered a header into the top corner.
However, there was a sting in the tail for Madrid.
Muriqi, second top scorer in the division behind Mbappe, lashed past Lunin in the 91st minute to claim three points for his side with his 18th league goal of the campaign.
Mallorca climbed two points clear of the drop zone after recording a famous victory, which the players celebrated gleefully with the fans at the end.
Meanwhile, Bayern came from two goals down in the last 10 minutes to win 3-2 at Freiburg in the Bundesliga, ahead of their midweek Champions League trip to the Bernabeu.
Trailing 2-0 and without injured talisman Harry Kane, Tom Bischof scored twice before Lennart Karl grabbed the winner in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
The victory took title-bound Bayern 12 points clear of Borussia Dortmund, who play at Stuttgart later on Saturday.
With Kane sidelined by an ankle complaint, Vincent Kompany opted to leave Michael Olise and Dayot Upamecano on the bench ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Madrid, whom Bayern have not beaten since 2012.
Veteran Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer returned from injury and rescued the visitors with two superb saves in the first half.
Freiburg took the lead just after the break when Johan Manzambi blasted a long-range effort into the corner with Neuer flat-footed.
Lucas Hoeler doubled Freiburg’s lead on 71 minutes to seemingly put his side on track for a first league win over Bayern since 2015.
The defending champions sparked into life late, however, with Bischof scoring in the 81st minute and again in stoppage time. Substitute Alphonso Davies set up Karl for the winner with an excellent low pass across the face of goal.
Two pieces of individual brilliance helped RB Leipzig down Werder Bremen 2-1 away to strengthen their bid for a top-four finish.
Antonio Nusa put Leipzig in front with an excellent shot from outside the box, and Romulo drove a low shot into the corner to pad the visitors’ advantage.
The victory took Leipzig level with third-placed Stuttgart. Bremen sit four points ahead of St Pauli, who occupy the relegation play-off spot.
Elsewhere, Bayer Leverkusen came from behind twice to win 6-3 in a wild clash at home to Wolfsburg to stay in Champions League contention.
Wolfsburg’s Danish contingent, Jonas Wind, Joakim Maehle and Christian Eriksen all scored before half-time to put the Wolves 3-1 up against a Leverkusen side coached by former Denmark boss Kasper Hjulmand.
Leverkusen pulled one back before the break and then responded with four second-half goals to grab control of the match.
Alejandro Grimaldo bagged a brace, while Patrik Schick, Ibrahim Maza, Edmond Tapsoba and Malik Tillman also scored as Leverkusen moved four points behind fourth-placed Leipzig.
Leverkusen’s win took them a point behind Hoffenheim, whose 2-1 home defeat to Mainz continued their slide.
Cruising in third in February, Hoffenheim are now fifth and have won just one of their past six matches.
Borussia Moenchengladbach drew 2-2 with last-placed Heidenheim, while 10-man Hamburg drew 1-1 at home with Augsburg.
Following his exploits with Ireland, Troy Parrott started on the bench for AZ Alkmaar before coming on for the final 20 minutes.
The hosts were 2-0 up within 15 minutes against Fortuna Sittard through goals from Mexx Meerdink and Sven Mijnans, and there was no further scoring thereafter.