Barca Deny Atletico at the Death, Solari’s Real Humbled by Eibar
Ousmane Dembele’s 90th-minute goal sees Barca hold Atletico 1-1, Real Madrid slump to 3-0 defeat at Eibar.
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Ousmane Dembele scored a late equaliser for Barcelona to draw with Atletico Madrid 1-1 on Saturday, 24 November, to extend the Catalan giants’ unbeaten run against the Madrid club to 17 Spanish league matches.
Diego Costa put the hosts in front with a 77th-minute header for his first league goal of the season, but Dembele ended Atletico's hopes of ending its eight-year winless streak against Barcelona with a goal from inside the area in the 90th after a pass by Lionel Messi.
The French 21-year-old’s goal also denied Atletico a chance to leapfrog Barca as league leaders. Sevilla, instead, will get a shot at going top of the table in Spain if they can defeat Real Valladolid on Sunday, 25 November.
Atletico have only two wins in their last 27 matches against Barca – both in the Champions League, with the last one in 2016. In fact, their last La Liga triumph over the Blaugrana came back in 2010, even before Diego Simeone had become Atletico manager.
Barcelona were coming off a 4-3 home loss against Real Betis, and entered the match with one of the league's worst defenses with 18 goals conceded.
It was an even game from the start, with Barcelona trying to control possession while Atletico held back on defense and tried to take advantage of counterattacks.
Neither team created significant scoring chances at Wanda Metropolitano Stadium until Costa opened the scoring with a close-range header on a corner taken by Antoine Griezmann. Dembele's equalizer came with a low left-footed shot past goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Dembele had entered the match in the 80th to replace Arthur.
Horror Start to Solari’s Full-Time Reign
Santiago Solari's first game as Real Madrid's full-time coach was one to forget. After leading Madrid to four straight victories as interim manager, Solari saw his team lose 3-0 at Eibar.
The loss – Madrid's first-ever defeat against the Basque Country club – halted the team's recovery from a series of poor results under former coach Julen Lopetegui, who was fired after a 5-1 Clasico drubbing against Barcelona.
Madrid are sixth on the table in La Liga after 13 games. A win could have seen them cut the gap on Barca down to two points.
"We admit that we didn't play well," Solari said. "We have to work to improve and to correct our mistakes. It was a tough loss, we didn't expect it."
Madrid had outscored opponents 15-2 in the four wins under Solari, who took over with the team ninth in the league. But Saturday's defeat left them with one of the league's worst defenses with 19 goals conceded. Only three teams have conceded more.
Eibar, meanwhile, moved two points behind Madrid after its second win in three matches.
The hosts opened the scoring through Gonzalo Escalante after a quick counter-attack in the 16th minute. Enrich added to the lead early in the second half after a defensive mistake by Madrid right back Alvaro Odriozola. Kike Garcia got the third five minutes later after Madrid's defense again couldn't clear a ball crossed into the area at Ipurua Stadium.
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