Ferran Torres earns Barcelona victory over Atletico Madrid with La Liga title now in grasp

First-half goal from former Man City attacker restores lead at top of table to 11 points

Ferran Torres, second left, celebrates with his Barcelona teammates after scoring against Atletico Madrid. EPA

Ferran Torres grabbed the only goal of the game as Barcelona edged out Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday.

The former Manchester City attacker scored just before half-time to earn his team three points and take them another step closer to a first La Liga title since 2019.

After two consecutive goalless draws, second-place Real Madrid cut Barca's lead at the top to eight points by defeating 2-0 Celta Vigo on Saturday.

And third-placed Atletico arrived as Spain's most in-form side but Torres stroked home from the edge of the box in the 44th minute to secure victory for Xavi Hernandez's side.

We had to win however it was, it was important to take a big step forward in the hunt for La Liga,” Torres told Movistar after Barca inflicted a first defeat on Atletico in 14 games.

“The team worked very hard, the fans were with us from the first moment and the result fell our way.”

Xavi brought Frenkie de Jong back into the starting line-up after injury, with Pedri settling for a place on the bench after returning from a two-month absence.

But Atletico attacker Antoine Griezmann almost scored in the opening minute against his former side, rattling the crossbar with a fine effort from distance after Sergio Busquets lost the ball in front of his box.

The Frenchmen, in sublime form, was denied by an impressive Marc-Andre Ter Stegen save after good work by Yannick Carrasco as Atletico shaded the first half.

However, it was Barcelona who struck just before the break, with Raphinha controlling a long ball and crossing to Torres on the edge of the box.

With La Liga top scorer Robert Lewandowski flying past him on the outside calling for the ball, Torres decided to go it alone, slotting the ball past Jan Oblak and into the bottom corner.

It was Barcelona's first goal since Torres scored against Elche on April 1, ending a painful run of three games without finding the net.

Oblak saved from Lewandowski and Torres early in the second half, before Barcelona brought on Pedri to to delight of the 80,000-strong Camp Nou faithful.

Gavi smashed an effort across goal while Argentine World Cup winner Rodrigo de Paul might have equalised at the other end, but fired wide as the game started to open up.

Raphinha scooped a glorious ball through for Lewandowski but Oblak pounced before the Polish striker could finish.

Gavi and Raphinha both mis-hit efforts from point-blank range in the space of a few seconds that should have put the game out of reach, before Ter Stegen palmed away Griezmann's flick.

Barcelona had another golden opportunity to score the second but Lewandowski selfishly shot wide from distance with Raphinha better placed.

A simple pass would have left the Brazilian with an open goal Oblak stranded, but desperate to improve his poor goalscoring form in recent weeks, Lewandowski went alone and scuffed his effort wide.

The striker was not punished for his profligacy as Barcelona survived a late handball appeal against Busquets to triumph.

“La Liga has been difficult for a while and it still is, we couldn't make it a bit more exciting,” said Oblak.