Playing well and with confidence, Atletico looked poised for a deep run in the Champions League, and was holding steady at the top of the Spanish league, in position to fight for both titles. First it was a penalty shootout loss to Real Madrid in the round of 16 in the Champions League last Wednesday,

On matchweek 28, Kylian Mbappe's brace led Real Madrid to a gutsy comeback win over Villareal to keep the pace at the top. But the most significant result came a day later, as Barcelona came back from a two goal deficit to defeat title rivals Atlético Madrid.

Barcelona struck a potentially decisive blow in La Liga’s title race with a 4-2 win against Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano. Diego Simeone’s home team went ahead through Julian Alvarez in the 45th minute — with the Argentina forward banishing memories of his ‘two-touch’ penalty in Atletico’s Champions League round-of-16 exit to Real Madrid in midweek.