Barcelona moved ever closer towards a successful defence of their La Liga title after nearest challengers Atletico Madrid suffered a shock late collapse at struggling Sporting Gijon to lose 2-1 on Saturday.
Relegation-threatened Gijon scored twice in the last 11 minutes with Carlos Castro securing the winner in the 89th to deliver a potentially fatal wound to Atletico’s title chances.
The result leaves Barca eight points clear at the top, with a chance for the rampant leaders to stretch their lead to 11 points with eight games left when they play at Villarreal on Sunday.
Atletico, who have been drawn to meet Barcelona in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, will be kicking themselves for offering such a gift to their title rivals after Antoine Griezmann had given them a 29th-minute lead with a superb free kick.
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