Barrios’ Late Strike End Atlético Madrid Winless Run

Pablo Barrios scored deep in added time to give Atlético Madrid a much-needed 2-1 LaLiga win at Sevilla on Sunday that ended their month-long six-game winless run in all competitions.

Eliminated from the Champions League in the round of 16 on penalties by old rivals Real Madrid and knocked out of the Copa del Rey in the semi-finals by Barcelona, Atlético kept their slim hopes of claiming the LaLiga title alive after leaders Barca and Real both dropped points on Saturday.

Diego Simeone’s Atletico moved on to 60 points, three behind Real who slumped to a 2-1 home defeat by Valencia while Barça were held 1-1 by Real Betis and are comfortable at the top on 67 points with eight games left. Sevilla are 11th on 36 points.

The match had a promising start with visiting striker Julián Álvarez’s spot-kick in the 25th minute cancelling out Lucien Agoume’s opener, but it petered out into a dour clash until Barrios made a great run through the middle and unleashed a bullet strike from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.