Barcelona beats Atlético 1-0 in La Liga despite Lewandowski's absence

MADRID (AP) — Playing without Robert Lewandowski wasn't so bad for Barcelona after all.

Barcelona overcame absence of its top striker to win 1-0 at Atlético Madrid and open a three-point lead over rival Real Madrid in Spanish league on Sunday.

Madrid had lost 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday for its second league loss of season. Atlético dropped to fifth place, seeing its gap to lead reach 14 points.

Ousmane Dembélé scored in first half and Barcelona held on for its first league win of year. Dembélé scored with a low shot from close range after a set up by Gavi Páez in 22nd minute.

“We knew it was going to be tough to win here, but after Madrid lost points against Villarreal we had to take advant of opportunity," Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets said. “We have to keep adding points at top."

Barcelona was without Lewandowski, league’s leading scorer with 13 goals, because Poland striker began serving a three-game suspension from before World Cup break. He had faced Espanyol late last year after suspension was temporarily lifted, but it got reinstated this week to keep him from playing.

Barcelona coach Xavi started with Ansu Fati in Lewandowski’s position. Fati had come off bench to score winning goal in extra time and help Barcelona escape elimination against third-division club Intercity in Copa del Rey midweek.

Forward Antoine Griezmann had a couple of good opportunities to equalize for Atlético but couldn't capitalize on m at Metropolita stadium in Spanish capital.

“We played well for most of match,” Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak said. “We created chances but we were a bit unlucky. We could have scored a few times, but ball just didn't go in.”

It was Barcelona’s first league win at Atlético since 2019.

Barcelona will w travel to Saudi Arabia to play in Spanish Super Cup along with Madrid, Real Betis and Valencia. Catalan club takes on defending Copa del Rey champion Betis on Thursday in one of semifinals. Madrid and Valencia play in or semifinal on Wednesday.

SOCIEDAD NEAR TOP

Real Sociedad continued its good run by winning 2-0 at Almería to stay in third place.

David Silva and Alexander Sorloth scored a goal each early in second half to give Basque Country club its sixth victory in a row in all competitions.

Sociedad is six points behind second-place Madrid and nine behind Barcelona. Almería, which had won four in a row at home in league, dropped to 14th place.

BETIS STAYS CLOSE

Betis won 2-1 at Rayo Valleca to end a three-game winless streak in league and stay four points behind Sociedad in fourth place.

It was third consecutive league match without a win for Rayo Valleca, which stayed eighth.

RELIEF FOR SEVILLA

Sevilla defeated Getafe 2-1 at home to end a six-game winless streak in league to move out of relegation zone. It hadn’t won since a 1-0 victory at Mallorca in October.

Marcos Acuña and Rafa Mir scored for Sevilla, while Borja Mayoral netted for 13th-place Getafe.

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