Man of the moment Julian Alvarez has fired Atletico Madrid into a 1-0 half time lead over La Liga title rivals Barcelona.
The Argentina international has been at the centre of every headline involving Los Rojiblancos in recent days following his disallowed penalty against Real Madrid.
Diego Simeone has been determined to use their UEFA Champions League frustration as motivation in the remaining title race.
With chances at a premium in Madrid, as Lamine Yamal hit the post early on, Alvarez made the key impact just before the break.
It was great link up inside Barcelona’s penalty box from the hosts front three as Antoine Griezmann’s threaded pass freed Giuliano Simeone and his cut back was lashed home by Alvarez.
Julian Alvarez opens scoring against Barcelonapic.twitter.com/tYbnnyd0y7
— Goals Xtra (@GoalsXtra) March 16, 2025
JULIAN ALVAREZ GIVES ATLETICO MADRID THE LEAD OVER BARCELONA JUST BEFORE HALFTIME!
A CRUCIAL GOAL IN THE LALIGA TITLE RACE 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KL0DbpLS5F
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 16, 2025
🤟 JULIAN ALVAREZ! 🤟
It’s a HUGE goal at the top of #LaLiga#AtletiBarca | #ITVFootball pic.twitter.com/t1RtZJkkny
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) March 16, 2025
The goal has a major impact on the live rankings as Atletico Madrid overtake Barcelona and move into second place in the table in behind Real Madrid with a point behind the defending champions.
Barcelona will be looking to rally after the restart to avoid seeing their unbeaten streak in 2025 ended at 17 games in the Spanish capital.
However, recent history is not on their side, with Hansi Flick failing to win a game against Los Rojiblancos in his debut campaign in charge.
Alexander Sorloth scored after the 90 minute mark in both meetings this season, to seal a dramatic 2-1 league win in Catalonia back in December, before again coming off the bench to snatch a 4-4 Copa del Rey semi final first leg draw last month.
However, Barcelona have emerged as winners on their last two visits to the Estadio Metropolitano, but neither game included coming back from a goal down.
Atletico Madrid had won just two of their last five league games heading into this clash with draws against Real Madrid and Celta Vigo plus defeat to Getafe last weekend.
Images via Getty Images / Getty Images
