A display that deteriorates as the minutes pass. Barcelona managed to take The victory of capital Against Atletico Madrid, the direct competitor in the struggle for the Spanish League title, although he did not remove the doubts in his game and again committed the same mistakes that condemned him so often in the past (Story and statistics of Barcelona’s victory).
The match was not a final, but both teams played as if instead of three more points at stake, it was the La Liga title in the fight. After all, the two are locked in a battle with the Blaugrana leading the Rojiblancos by six points.
As if it were a battle of gladiators in the Spotify Camp Nou stadium, which was the scene of the duel, each one of them tried with his weapons to belittle the virtues of his opponent and exploit his faults. So it happened Both teams suffered injuries among their ranks: Dani Olmo and Pedri in Barcelona, and Baena in Atletico Madrid.
Barcelona players celebrate Dani Olmo’s goal.
Reuters
A team in red and white have not attacked Camp Nou for 19 consecutive years – they did so at Montjuïc – and they will have to wait another year to try to do so.
Simeone’s men had everything left to them, but the most important thing in this sport was missing: success. Thiago Almada and Griezmann forgave the equaliser In the second half with very clear chances, especially those for the Argentine. Here, whoever forgives ends up paying the price.
Because sometimes the game was a constant flow of chances…and some of them were practically the same.
A good example is the first goals of the match. Barcelona seem to be the team that keeps tripping on the same rock day after day, regardless of the opponent. Advanced defense does not work This season Simeone prepared the game plan very well.
Atletico Madrid players celebrate Baena’s goal.
Reuters
After overcoming an injury to Cardoso, who was accidentally hit by Dani Olmo, Atletico Madrid put in a poor physical display. All the players were committed to defensive tasks and in attack they just had to take advantage of Barcelona’s weakness.
Nahuel Molina saw a perfect pass to Alex Baena Behind the Barcelona defence, and after good control and subsequent driving, he produced a perfect match against Juan Garcia to open the scoring.
However, he was unable to celebrate the goal because the lineman immediately raised the flag After reviewing the VAR, De Burgos Bengoetxea deemed it correct. Unleashing the joy on the red and white bench that told the players to continue like this, although Pedri had other plans.
Pedri’s party
The midfielder once again took charge in his team’s midfield and once he had control of the engine room, the equalizer took just seven minutes to arrive.
A play copied from Baena, the only difference between which is the definition. Although the player ranked first before Juan Garcia’s departure, Rafinha received a pass from Pedri and decided to dribble Oblak to score the equalizer as he wanted.
Pedri had another impressive game for the Canaries on his return to the starting line-up. He failed just four passes (60 out of 64), made one assist, created three chances, was 100% efficient in all three of his dribbles, won seven duels out of eight and made eight recoveries.
Pedri leaves Julian Alvarez.
Evie
While Barcelona suffered from Lamine’s lack of contribution in attack, Atletico Madrid did the same with Julian Alvarez. The Argentine was very involved in defence, but almost ineffective in the attacking zone.
When the game stops, Lewandowski was the protagonistalthough not in the way you want. Pablo Barrios’ knockdown on Dani Olmo inside the box ended up being the ultimate penalty kick that the Pole would eventually miss, as the ball sent him flying into the clouds.
The Barcelona striker did not collapse and by finishing a wonderful cross from Lamine he was able to compensate for this mistake, however Oblak had an amazing handball to prevent the goal For returns which may take time to arrive.
Oblak blocks Lewandowski’s goal.
Reuters
Barcelona did not know much about the equalizer and probably went into the locker room with the idea of forgiving Atletico. In the second half, with Pedri and Rafinha recovering from injury, their fuel level was unknown. Moreover, The rojiblancos bench is much better.
The first quarter hour of the second half was electric. A back-and-forth match, with multiple options. Julian Álvarez tried to get the better of Joan Garcia from the top, and neither Rafinha succeeded in a brilliant individual performance from Lamine Yamal nor Giuliano in another work worthy of the “Spider”.
but, Pedri and Rafinha resisted everything ending this way. The Brazilian, in a counterattack launched by Olmo, enabled Lewandowski, who showed that today was definitely not his day.
On Barcelona’s first big night at the new Camp Nou, Dani Olmo attested to his fantastic week In a shot from inside the wide area to the left post of the red and white goal.
Pedri and Rafinha arrived in the 74th minute. Flick formed a midfield with Eric, Casado and Drew. Barcelona had to grit their teeth, and perform a survival exercise, against an opponent who already had plenty of dynamite up front and they achieved that.
No success
Atletico had it though, in a brilliant piece of work from Thiago Almada, who cut down balls from Cobarci, Gerard Martin and Joan Garcia, finishing wide in the 80th minute when everything was going their way.
The match was not close, but far from it. The latest change to the game Christensen’s entry into Lamine Yamal was the final declaration of intent.
Barcelona held its breath with a pass from Julian Alvarez that Griezmann missed (93rd minute) and scored 3-1 on a counterattack from Rashford (94th minute), which… Ferran Torres scored the last goal of the match after an assist from Balde in the 96th minute..
Barcelona’s victory could be a turning point. They are now little more than leaders, four points clear of Real Madrid, and they have beaten one of the greats, the first great moment of the season.
Technical details of the match:
Barcelona: Joan Garcia; Conde, Coparsi, Gerard Martin, Baldi; Eric Garcia, Pedri (Drew, min. 74); Lamine Yamal (Christensen, 88th minute), Olmo (Rashford, 66th minute), Rafinha (Casado, 73rd minute); And Lewandowski (Ferrán Torres, 67th minute).
Atletico Madrid: Oblak; Molina, Jimenez, Lenglet, Hanko; Rogeri. Jonny (Koke, 14th minute; Griezmann, 75th minute), Barrios; Giuliano (Sorloth, min. 63), Baena (Almada, min. 62), Nico Gonzalez (Gallagher, min. 46); And Julian Alvarez.
Objectives: 0-1, min. 19: Bayena. 1-1, min. 26: Rafinha. 1-2 minutes. 65: Elm. 3-1, min. 90+6: Ferran Torres.
Verdict: Ricardo Burgos (Vizcaya Commission). Showed yellow cards to Baena (minute 41) and Gerard Martin (minute 45+2).
Accidents: The early match of Matchday 19 of La Liga was played at Spotify Camp Nou in front of 45,205 spectators.