Barcelona snap incredible Diego Simeone run with comeback win

Atletico Madrid fans could barely have feared a worse three-game run before the international break, losing two games to Getafe and Barcelona in stoppage time, and a third Champions League clash against Real Madrid on penalties. Few will have experienced a more cruel streak in the space of eight days.

Los Colchoneros looked good in all three of those games at various points, but at no point could they have been more confident than when they took a two-goal lead against Barcelona with just twenty minutes to go. At the Metropolitano, when Alexander Sorloth added a sixth game to his run of scoring against the Blaugrana, it looked as if the game was done.

Giuliano Simeone is Atlético Madrid’s top assist provider across all competitions this season (7).@atletico_stats_ pic.twitter.com/nj5LAnxHGs

— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) March 18, 2025

Partly because history was instructive that Atletico Madrid would take at minimum a point. Since taking over at Atletico, Diego Simeone has based his sides on a solid defence and a fighting spirit, and over the course of his 13 years at the club as coach, has never lost a game in which they have taken a two goal lead. That is according to TV3, who say that the stoppage time goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres condeming them to defeat have snapped that incredible run.

They cite the last time it happened to Atletico in general as 17 years ago, back in 2007 under Javier Aguirre, when Nihat Kahveci and Giuseppe Rossi inspired a comeback to win 4-3 at the Vicente Calderon.

Lamine: “Against Real Madrid the games are very beautiful, and we are the team that does them the most damage. And vice versa too.”

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 18, 2025

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick commented after the game that he was delighted with the mentality shown by his players, and their ability to overcome difficulties. Certainly that feels like their best quality so far this season, having been quetioned over their mental fortitude in previous seasons, the Blaugrana have come through a number of tricky tests against quality opposition. For Atletico, it adds insult to injury and impotency, as Diego Simeone tries to pick his side up for the final stretch of the season.