At a glance
- Robert Lewandowski scored the winner for FC Barcelona as they beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the Metropolitano on Saturday.
- The La Liga victory sent the Catalans seven points clear at summit, after Real Madrid lost by the same score to Mallorca earlier on.
- Though featuring sparingly in 2025/2025, the Pole has 12 top flight goals this term.
Robert Lewandowski scored a late winner at the Metropolitano on Saturday night, to hand FC Barcelona a vital 2-1 victory over 10-men Atletico Madrid.
The win gave Barca not just three points, but also an advantage of seven at the La Liga summit after nearest rivals Real Madrid suffered a shock defeat to Mallorca a few hours before kick off.
As they say in Spain, the Pole’s strike was worth “half a league” given the implications it can have on the championship race.
Cancelo deserves credit for his part in Lewandowski’s winner
Outstanding in attack, Joao Cancelo deserved an assist in the log book for the part he played in Lewandowski’s 12th La Liga goal of the season.
Having the ball laid off to him by Pedri after Gavi passed across the box to his fellow Spaniard, the Portuguese dribbled Thiago Almada twice before firing off a shot that was blocked by Jean Musso yet parried into Lewandowski’s path for what ended up being the decider.
Winning possession seven times and the majority of his ground duels, Cancelo was successful on both sides of the ball with 42/47 completed passes and will keep Alejandro Balde out of the first XI at this rate.
As for the team overall, getting the better of Atleti could prove a psychological advantage going into two more Champions League quarterfinal battles with the Rojiblancos.
Equalising Guiliano Simeone’s 39th minute strike approaching half time, Marcus Rashford’s confidence will also have been boosted as he took the opportunity to shine in Raphinha’s injured absence.
Lamine Yamal was also brilliant with several exhibitions of his world class skill, but a lot is being made of him not celebrating Lewandowski’s goal as caught on camera by DAZN Espana.
