Sorloth rescues 10-men Atletico in 1-1 draw with Celta Vigo

Atletico play almost the entire game a man short after midfielder Barrios saw a straight red card in the fourth minute

Atletico Madrid's Alexander Sorloth scores their first goal in the LaLiga game against Celta Vigo at Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain on February 15, 2025. REUTERS/Ana Beltran

Atletico Madrid wasted a golden opportunity to go top in LaLiga as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by visitors Celta Vigo on Saturday.

Atletico played almost the entire game a man short after midfielder Pablo Barrios was shown a straight red card for a reckless studs-up tackle on Pablo Duran in the fourth minute.

The red card was Barrios' second in less than a month, as he was sent off for an almost identical challenge on Jeremie Frimpong early in Atletico's 2-1 Champions League win over Bayer Leverkusen three weeks ago.

Substitute Iago Aspas fired home a 68th-minute penalty after Robin Le Normand had fouled Borja Iglesias inside the box but forward Alexander Sorloth came off the bench to finish off a counter attack in the 81st minute and rescue a valuable point for the home side.

Real top the standings with 51 points after being held to a 1-1 draw at Osasuna earlier on Saturday, one point ahead of Atletico in second. With a game in hand, Barcelona are third on 48 points and will face Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

"When you are down to 10 men so early it's very difficult," Atletico's Koke told DAZN.

"The team tried everything, we defended well, knew how to endure suffering. Sure, we wanted to take advantage of Real's draw with a win here, but we'll take the point. It isn't that bad as we're still in the fight for the title."

Despite being reduced to 10 men and Celta dominating possession, Atletico looked the more dangerous of the two sides with Giuliano Simeone and Julian Alvarez wasting great chances on counter attacks.

Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak was inspired between the posts denying efforts by Fernando Lopez and Duran as Celta were livelier after the break, but there was little he could do to deny Aspas' bullet strike into the top corner from the spot, after Le Normand had stamped on Iglesias's foot in the 68th minute.

Manager Diego Simeone made three substitutions in an attempt to give Atletico the spark they were missing and it paid off.

Three minutes after Sorloth came off the bench he took a long ball down on his chest and got the better of defender Carl Starfelt before firing a half-volley from the edge of the box into the bottom corner.