Atletico Madrid's Javi Morcillo, left, and Barcelona's Gavi vie for the ball during a La Liga soccer match between Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, April 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

By The Canadian Press

Barcelona overcomes 10-man Atletico and boosts La Liga lead after Real Madrid loses

Apr 4, 2026 | 2:46 PM

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona came from behind away from home to beat 10-man Atletico Madrid 2-1 and take a big step toward winning La Liga after Real Madrid lost at Mallorca on Saturday.

Robert Lewandowski scored the decider in the 87th minute with his shoulder off the rebound of a save by the Atletico goalkeeper.

Barcelona has a seven-point lead over Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Mallorca earlier.

Atletico, which dropped 19 points off the lead in fourth place, opened the scoring at Metropolitano Stadium through Giuliano Simeone in the 39th. Marcus Rashford equalized in the 42nd, and Atletico went a man down in first-half stoppage time when Nico González was sent off for a second yellow card.

Lewandowski scored almost by accident when the ball struck his shoulder and went into the net after a save by goalkeeper Juan Muso off a shot by

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The winning goal was almost by accident. João Cancelo made a nice run through the left side of the area with a couple of cutback moves to get past defenders but his shot was parried by keeper Juan Muso and rebounded in off Lewandowski’s shoulder.

Atletico has lost three in a row in all tournaments and stayed one point behind third-placed Villarreal, which visits Girona on Monday.

Madrid’s loss

Real Madrid dropped further behind Barcelona after conceding in stoppage time.

Host Mallorca opened the scoring thanks to Manu Morlanes in the 42nd minute. Madrid equalized in the 88th through Éder Militão, who was back after an injury layoff of nearly four months.

The winner came from Vedat Muriqi one minute into added time.

Mallorca has risen out of the relegation zone after its second win in three league matches. It moved to 17th place, two points clear of the bottom three.

Madrid suffered its third defeat in its last six league matches. The club has five league losses all season.

Also, Real Sociedad beat Levante 2-0 at home, and Real Betis drew 0-0 with Espanyol, which has yet to win in 13 games this year.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press