Barcelona Ferran Torres and Atletico Madrid's Stefan Savic with Both Players Sent Off for WRESTLING
- last year
There was a bizarre moment at the end of Barcelona's 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid on Sunday night as Ferran Torres and Stefan Savic were both sent off for wrestling on the pitch in the closing moments.
The incident started as they vied for the ball in the 92nd minute, but the pair continued to scrap after the ball had been cleared by Torres, as the Barca forward pulled his opponent to the ground and grappled with him for around five seconds.
There appeared to be hair-pulls, shoves, and headlocks between Torres and the Atletico defender, with neither player interested in the ball as it traveled up the pitch.
They eventually both stood up and shoved each other away, but the incident still saw both players shown straight red cards.
It came at the end of an ill-tempered game that saw Atleti players swarm the ref after Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal of the game due to complaints of a foul by Gavi in the build-up.
Despite its somewhat ugly nature, the win sends Barca three points clear of rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga and continues an excellent run of form that has seen them win four of their last five games.
Manager Xavi was in a jubilant mood after the game, as he said: 'It's not just three points. this is a huge morale boost. Without playing brilliantly we were able to suffer and come away with all three points.'
For Atletico, the loss continues a somewhat gloomy season. They are now 14 points behind Barca and out of the European places.
'The first 20 minutes we couldn't get into our stride,' Diego Simeone said after his side's loss. 'It wasn't until they scored that we started to play as we wanted.'
Barcelona will next be in action when they face Real Betis in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final on Thursday, while Simeone's men will face Almeria in the league on Sunday.
The incident started as they vied for the ball in the 92nd minute, but the pair continued to scrap after the ball had been cleared by Torres, as the Barca forward pulled his opponent to the ground and grappled with him for around five seconds.
There appeared to be hair-pulls, shoves, and headlocks between Torres and the Atletico defender, with neither player interested in the ball as it traveled up the pitch.
They eventually both stood up and shoved each other away, but the incident still saw both players shown straight red cards.
It came at the end of an ill-tempered game that saw Atleti players swarm the ref after Ousmane Dembele scored the only goal of the game due to complaints of a foul by Gavi in the build-up.
Despite its somewhat ugly nature, the win sends Barca three points clear of rivals Real Madrid at the top of La Liga and continues an excellent run of form that has seen them win four of their last five games.
Manager Xavi was in a jubilant mood after the game, as he said: 'It's not just three points. this is a huge morale boost. Without playing brilliantly we were able to suffer and come away with all three points.'
For Atletico, the loss continues a somewhat gloomy season. They are now 14 points behind Barca and out of the European places.
'The first 20 minutes we couldn't get into our stride,' Diego Simeone said after his side's loss. 'It wasn't until they scored that we started to play as we wanted.'
Barcelona will next be in action when they face Real Betis in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final on Thursday, while Simeone's men will face Almeria in the league on Sunday.