On the orders of the crying referee Ricardo de Burgos Bengoechea, a terrible picture of Spanish football, Barcelona wanted to emerge from the hole with a prestigious victory over an important rival. Simeone’s team started very stable, close to the Juan Garcia area but Lamine … Yamal launched fearsome counter-attacks, partly also because Rafinha at his best reached balls that would be completely impossible for any other human being to make.
Barcelona used patience and touch, so the red and white storm calmed down and the match was balanced. Rafinha looked much higher than the others, whether in defense or attack, always with the same strength, reaching everywhere, where Flick needed to implement his footballing idea. Shouts of “Messi, Messi” in the 10th minute. There is an atmosphere at the Camp Nou that has become tense against the president. He has no rival who could challenge him for the throne, but his infatuation with his partner has seen better times.
The injured Cardoso had to be replaced by Koke, and in the 18th minute Baena put his side ahead with a classic counter-attack. Flick’s bullshit line – squiggly and standing – failed miserably again and although the crying referee ruled the play out for offside, VAR corrected it and finally awarded the goal.
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Barcelona:
Joan Garcia; Conde, Coparsi, Gerard Martin, Baldi; Pedri (Drew, 73rd minute), Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo (Ferran, 66th minute); Lamine Yamal (Christensen, 87th minute), Lewandowski (Rashford, 66th minute) and Rafinha (Casado, 73rd minute). -
Atletico Madrid:
Oblak; Molina, Jimenez, Lenglet, Hanko; Johnny Cardoso (Koke, 13th minute) (Griezmann, 74th minute), Barrios; Giuliano (Sorloth, min. 62), Baena (Almada, min. 62), Nico (Gallagher, min. 46); And Julian Alvarez. -
Objectives:
0-1, minute 19: Baena. 1-1, min. 26: Rafinha. 2-1, minute 65: Dani Olmo. 3-1, min. 96: Ferran -
Verdict:
From Burgos Bengoechea (Biscayan School). He warned Baena (M.41) and Gerard Martin (45+2). Lewandowski missed a penalty kick in the 36th minute.
Barcelona reacted well to the strike, Lamine and Rafinha unleashing powerful, fast and deep attacks, which made the opposition feel dizzy and reminded them of other matches in which they had also taken the lead and been overwhelmed in the end. It all paid off in the 25th minute when Rafinha tapped in with a brilliant pass into Pedri’s space, beating Oblak and getting the equaliser. Pedri is very good, his assist was very clever, empowering his teammate, showing him the way, and Rafinha was very stratospheric, reaching for everything and solving the problem brilliantly.
The best and worst of Barcelona. Its sinking defense and its devastating and brilliant attacks. In the following minutes, Atletico were able to take the lead again and only Juan Garcia could stop them. Once again the Fleck Line is in tatters. Barcelona were on the boil in the second half and Dani Olmo’s indisputable penalty seemed to pave the way, but Lewandowski fired into the sky. A similar test has not been remembered since Sergio Ramos. On the next play, the Pole almost redeemed himself with a good header, but Oblak had a better hand.
Atletico had the chance to score every few minutes and on a very quick counter-attack by Giuliano, Gerard Martin caught him with a criminal tackle for which he deserved a direct red card. Not even the Camp Nou would protest. Only De Burgos, in yellow, unpresentable, who blew the half-time whistle a few seconds later and went into the dressing room, I think would cry.
Joan Garcia came back from the break to show his importance. Teams like Atletico and defenses like Flick always give the goalkeeper a chance to shine. Despite Barcelona’s superiority in the match, the match was gradually reaching what Simeone needed: organized resistance and waiting for a quick counterattack to score and return to Madrid with the spoils of three points. But in 1964, Olmo got tired of always failing at everything and ruined the Argentine’s plan. The boy is so fragile that without anyone touching him, and only by falling after the shot, he dislocated his shoulder and had to be replaced by Ferran. That doesn’t take away from the goal, but you can’t be made of glass and play for Barcelona.
The match became boring, and the only interest was in passing the minutes and seeing the result at the end. Simeone was not mentally far from equalizing, but his players wasted a lot of what they had. Rafinha gave meaning to the football played by Flick, who had his best night at the Camp Nou. At the end, Ferran scored the third goal.