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Atletico Madrid beat FC Barcelona 3-1
Fernando Torres scored twice and Maxi Rodriguez added another as Atletico Madrid beat FC Barcelona 3-1.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:35 AM IST
Read Time: 2 min
Madrid:
Fernando Torres scored twice and Maxi Rodriguez added another as Atletico Madrid beat FC Barcelona 3-1 to end the leader's 14-game winning streak in the Spanish league.
Barcelona, lacking Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o together with four other players, failed to equal the record number of 15 straight league victories set by Real Madrid in the 1960-61 season.
Barcelona leads the league with 52 points after 22 games, nine more than Valencia and 10 ahead of Real Madrid and Osasuna.
Barcelona's loss was its first at home this season and came four days after it was eliminated from the Copa del Rey quarterfinals by Zaragoza.
Eleventh-place Atletico, which also beat Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon stadium on September 18, is the only team to have overcome the defending champion in the league this season.
"Today wasn't our day. We were below par," Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard was quoted as saying by news agency Efe.
"We have to react and rediscover the form we've shown up to now."
Atletico captain Torres rifled home in the 33rd minute after a cross by midfielder Ariel Ibagaza led to a mix-up between Barcelona defenders Oleguer Presas and Gabri Garcia.
Martin Petrov created the visitors' second goal in the 47th minute. (AP)
Topics mentioned in this article
Football
Atletico Madrid
Croatia
Spain
Fernando Torres
Barcelona
Liverpool
Aston Villa
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