BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Atlético Madrid trailed Barcelona by 10 points at the start of November but will end the year three points clear at the top of LaLiga with a game left after Alexander Sørloth’s remarkable 96th-minute play concluded in the Olympic Stadium between the two best in the league.

Rodrigo De Paul’s strike canceled out Pedri’s opener in Barcelona on Saturday, but it was the home side who pushed for victory late on. The scoreboard, which showed six minutes of injury time, was greeted with cheers from local fans as Barça, led by the brilliant Pedri, threw everything forward in search of a winner. But those six minutes ended in despair, and the only roar now came from the few hundred away fans at the top of the second division as Atlético rattled off 12 straight wins in all competitions, firmly cementing their title claim.

Barça is currently in free fall. They can’t even string together two wins in a row, let alone twelve. After taking 33 out of 36 possible points at the start of the season, Hansi Flick’s team dwindled and only took six of the last 21.

There are different theories for their surrender. Her highly successful high line came under scrutiny. However, Atlético had little luck here until Sørloth scored, who took advantage of this line. De Paul carried the ball forward after Barça gave it away. The Barça defense stepped offside, but had not taken into account the run of full-back Nahuel Molina, who intercepted De Paul’s pass and crossed to Sørloth.

Fatigue is another theory. 10 players have already logged over 1,500 minutes this season and Raphinha told ESPN this week that fatigue was a factor in Barça’s just one win in their last seven league games. However, they didn’t seem particularly tired against Atlético, in a game where they started intensely and dominated for long stretches.

This gives Flick, who served a two-game ban on the sidelines for the second time against Atlético, hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Often losing points has come when they least expected it – they also lost at home to Las Palmas and Leganés, and now, worryingly, they have lost three in a row in the league at the Olympic Stadium – while they have done well against the bigger teams. Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund were all beaten.

Atlético might have been included in this list if Barça’s finishing had been better. Gavi headed wide, Iñigo Martínez and Fermín López shot directly at Jan Oblak, Pedri shot over the goal and Raphinha hit the crossbar. That was all before De Paul’s equaliser, set up by Marc Casadó when the midfielder failed to keep out Julián Álvarez’s cross. With the score at 1-1, substitutes Dani Olmo, Raphinha and Pedri had further chances, but either the goal was missed or Oblak held on.

Barça finished the game with 19 shots and an xG of 3.04.

“It’s obvious we have a great goalkeeper,” said Atlético coach Diego Simeone after the game.

“Jan was extremely important.”

Atlético’s chances were few and far between. They had zero shots in the first half. De Paul’s goal was their first goal. Pablo Barrios had a good chance but was denied by a fine save from Iñaki Peña, but as stoppage time stretched to six minutes, it was Barça who believed they could score the winner.

“We played a brilliant game,” said Flick.

“It was really unbelievable how we played. That’s how I want to see my team. Our style, how we want to play, that was really great. I am proud.”

“It also shows that Atletico are an experienced team and they have just been waiting for this and for them it is enough.”

Flick’s comments do Atlético no favors. He had spoken before the game about how dangerous they are late in games. They have now scored 13 goals after the 80th minute in all competitions to either win or draw games, including a 94th minute winner from Antoine Griezmann when they came from behind to beat Sevilla by 4 just two weeks ago :3 defeated.

At Barça, however, it feels different. This was their first win in Barcelona since 2006 in the league and their first ever in the city under Simeone. It’s no wonder the bench poured onto the pitch after Sørloth’s winning goal.

Atlético have now won seven straight in LaLiga and will finish 2024 as Spain’s best team, regardless of how Real Madrid perform against Sevilla on Sunday. Their numbers are as impressive as Barça’s are depressing.

Simeone has already led them to the title twice, beating Barça and Real Madrid. Could this happen again?

“I won’t take that route, not at all,” he said in typically shy fashion when asked about his team’s chances of winning the league.

He will be disappointed that it is now winter break. For Barça, however, it comes at a good time. It gives Lamine Yamal time to recover from an ankle injury – they have yet to win a game when he is not in the starting line-up – and others time to rest, like Pedri, who put in an excellent performance against Atlético.

As well as scoring Barça’s goal, he also played two brilliant passes to create chances for Raphinha and generally dictated the game. It was an impressive performance from a player who appears to have overcome the injury problems that plagued him in his final two seasons.

“It’s really nice to see that he’s at this level now,” said Flick.

“The way he played was fantastic, the goal was incredibly good. When you see him on the pitch now, he also trains the other players around him. That’s good. It’s the next step for him. He’s 22 years old and he’s on the right track.”

Pedri deserved more but instead he finished the game sluggishly on the pitch as Atlético celebrated in front of their fans what could turn out to be a huge three points in a fascinating three-way battle for the title.

“We knew how to defend against a team that played good football,” Simeone said.

“The changes gave us strength in the final phase and the counterattack that led us to victory was exquisite. It gave us the chance to win a game that Barça probably deserved a little more from.”