Atletico Madrid 2-4 Barcelona: Torres nets brace in second-half comeback

Ferran Torres scored twice to help Barcelona come from two goals behind to beat Atletico Madrid 4-2 and move Hansi Flick's side back to the top of the LaLiga table. 

Barcelona are now level on points with Real Madrid, but have a game in hand over their rivals following last week's postponement of their league clash with Osasuna.

But for Diego Simeone's team, they stay third but are now four points off the pace, capping off a miserable week following their Champions League exit to Los Blancos.

Atletico took the lead on the stroke of half-time following a lightning break, with Giuliano Simeone pulling the ball back for Julian Alvarez to stroke beyond Wojciech Szczesny. 

The hosts doubled their advantage in the 70th minute through substitute Alexander Sorloth, who finished from close range after being picked out by Conor Gallagher. 

But Atletico's joy was short-lived as Robert Lewandowski brilliantly chested down Inigo Martinez's hopeful ball into the area before sending a left-footed effort past Jan Oblak to halve the deficit.  

Barcelona then turned the game on its head moments later when Torres, on as a 67th-minute substitution for Dani Olmo, headed Flick's side level. 

And fresh from his sensational display in Barcelona's Champions League win over Benfica, Lamine Yamal cut inside and saw his strike deflect and loop over Oblak in the second minute of second-half stoppage time. 

Torres then capitalised on some poor play from the back by Atletico to seal the win, curling the ball into the bottom right corner in the eighth minute of time added on. 

Having endured a slight wobble in their quest for the LaLiga crown, Barcelona have since got their title tilt back on track with a string of impressive displays, though their comeback victory was their first in well over a year. 

Indeed, Flick's side won a LaLiga game after trailing by two or more goals for the first time since a 3-2 win over Celta Vigo in September 2023, with their comeback started by Lewandowski's 72nd-minute strike. 

The Pole has now scored 35 goals in 40 games across all competitions this season, his best tally in a single campaign with Barcelona, while he is also the first player to reach that number for the club since Lionel Messi in 2020-21 (38 goals in 47 games). 

It was also a nightmare match on a landmark day for Atletico's Antoine Griezmann. He made his 520th LaLiga appearance on Sunday, going level with Messi as the foreign player with the most outings in the competition.