Barcelona and Atletico Madrid rejoined La Liga’s top four on
Sunday after Barca needed a late penalty to beat Elche 2-1 before Atletico
defeated Real Betis 3-1, Joao Felix scoring twice at the Benito Villamarin.
It is the first time Barcelona and Atletico have both been
in La Liga’s Champions League qualification spots since August.
Atletico have struggled for solidity and consistency since
winning the title last season while Barca are still recovering from a financial
crisis and the departure of Lionel Messi.
Yet both teams will be growing in confidence that they can
now achieve their minimum objective, which is to avoid missing out on the
Champions League next season and the further financial damage that would cause.
Barca are now third, level on points with Atletico in
fourth, but having played a game fewer. They might both fancy their chances of
finishing second, with stuttering Sevilla only seven points in front.
Atletico’s win over Betis was particularly significant given
Betis started the day in third and have looked the mostly likely candidates all
season to upset the established top four.
Barcelona, meanwhile, had to come from behind at the
Martinez Valero after Fidel capitalised on a Pedri error, only for Barca to
come storming back thanks to two substitutes.
Ferran Torres diverted in from close range on the hour
before Depay scored an 84th-minute penalty after the striker had drawn Elche's
Antonio Barragan into a handball.
"It seemed we were going to lose a game we did not
deserve to lose," said Barca coach Xavi Hernandez. "We deserved to
win by more than one goal."
Victory continues an impressive run of form for Xavi's side,
who have not lost in the league since December and came into this game on the
back of scoring four times in three consecutive games for the first time since
2017.
When Xavi was appointed in November, Barcelona sat ninth.
"We have four wins in a row, this has not happened for
a long time, it's a good sign," said Xavi. "The players believe in
what we are doing. We are on the right path."
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Barcelona had the better of the chances in the first half,
the best of them falling to Frenkie de Jong, who darted in behind but failed to
beat Edgar Badia.
Then Ousmane Dembele sprinted clear and his lifted shot was
parried out to De Jong, whose follow-up was cleared off the line by Diego
Gonzalez.
Elche then landed a sucker-punch a minute before half-time
as Barca failed to deal with a straight-forward goal-kick downfield and amid
the confusion, Pedri poked the ball back, past his own defence and through to
Fidel. Fidel took a touch and fired into the far corner.
Barcelona equalised on the hour as Dembele drove to the line
and hung up a cross. Jordi Alba was unable to catch the ball cleanly but Torres
was perfectly placed to steer in.
Elche were tiring, Barca pushing for a winner and in the
82nd minute they got their chance as Depay wriggled around Barragan, the ball
popped up and Barragan instinctively lifted his arm to meet it. Depay swept the
penalty into the top corner.
Atletico were ahead after 75 seconds in Seville as Jan
Oblak’s punt downfield was flicked onto Angel Correa, who took advantage of
some lethargic Betis defending to cross to Felix, the striker given an easy
finish.
Betis levelled in the fifth minute of injury-time at the end
of the first half after Hector Herrera was robbed of the ball under pressure from
Youssouf Sabaly and Cristian Tello guided the loose ball brilliantly into the
corner.
Tello was denied by Oblak in the second half while Joaquin
almost scored from a corner. Atletico’s Felipe headed against the post before
Jose Gimenez failed to bury the rebound.
But Felix struck again on the hour when Marcos Llorente
raced in behind and picked out the Portuguese with a cut-back before Thomas
Lemar added a third with 10 minutes left, sidefooting in after an electric
Antoine Griezmann run down the right to secure victory.