Julian Alvarez scored two key penalties as Atletico Madrid rallied from behind to beat bottom club Real Valladolid 4-2 in a rain-soaked Metropolitano on Monday, keeping Title aspirations alive.
Atletico is third with 63 points, three behind Real Madrid and seven behind Barcelona. Valladolid, who lost their sixth straight, are 16 points, 14 points behind safety with seven matches left. These three points matter “Atletico striker Alvarez told DAZN. “We must persist. Think on Saturday’s Las Palmas game, rest, and focus. All done.
“I could have scored a hat-trick elsewhere, but we won. It got complicated, but we did it.”
After a VAR check for Clement Lenglet’s handball, Mamadou Sylla easily converted a penalty to give Valladolid an unexpected lead in the 21st minute.
Within four minutes, Alvarez equalized from the spot after another VAR intervention for Javi Sanchez’s foul on Giuliano Simeone. Simeone scored to put Atletico ahead in the 27th minute.
Sanchez’s free-kick rebounded off Conor Gallagher in the wall and past Jan Oblak in the 56th minute, shocking Atletico again.
After Henrique fouled Marcos Llorente, Alvarez scored another penalty in the 71st minute to restore Atletico’s lead. The Argentine forward nearly completed his hat-trick eight minutes later, but Andre Ferreira blocked his low shot.
But replacement Alexander Sorloth scored from close range on the rebound to win it. We competed well. We anticipated suffering. Valladolid’s Sanchez lamented their return.
