There are days that are unforgivable and days that you forgive. For Barça the match against Atlético was one of the seconds. Because he did everything to win except translate his remarkable game on the scoreboard. And you already know that football is not about merits but about events. Flick’s team recovered its intensity and football but not the voracious achievement that had catapulted it into the classification. In the end, a cruel and unfair defeat that came at the last second when Sorloth converted the 1-2 scoreline that leaves Atlético leader in the standings and represents Simeone’s first victory on Barcelona soil. Third consecutive setback for the Blaugrana in Montjuïc. Logically, you can’t win a League like this.
But scoring only one goal, that of a wonderful Pedri, was not enough. Barcelona had up to seven clear chances to Atlético’s only three, but sometimes Oblak and other faulty shots left the Blaugrana with nothing. Instead, De Paul and Sorloth showed no mercy.
Pedri advanced to a superior Barça but then De Paul tied after a mistake by Casadó
After winning only one match in the last six in the championship, Hansi Flick made important decisions. With Lamine Yamal absent, the German coach decided to shake his shaker. He could have opted for Ferran Torres and that’s it, but he decided on Fermín. He placed him on the left flank and moved Raphinha to the right. Not only did he do that, but he removed Olmo from the eleven, who had dropped in performance in recent games, and opted for Gavi as a playmaker. With Fermín and Gavi, Barça guaranteed extra desire, bite, and intensity. I needed it after stress-free outings like the Leganés day.
In front was an Atlético that had been launched, with eleven consecutive victories in all competitions, and that had caught Barcelona in the table. But from the initial whistle it was clear that Barça wanted more, that Barça was in charge, that Barça was pressing. Eleven jackals in the pressure. Eleven players turning the field towards Oblak’s goal. With wide open ends and a shower of centers towards the heart of the area. Raphinha set up his leg and ran into Gallagher’s foot when the shot carried the scent of a goal. Iñigo Martínez made the red and white goalkeeper work. Gavi rose and headed wide.
Atlético leaves Montjuïc as leaders and Simeone finally wins on Barcelona’s territory
They were not superlative occasions but a constant feeling of danger and, above all, superiority. Atlético’s stars didn’t even smell it and Barça anticipated every play, with a hyperactivity that was reminiscent of the beginning of the season.
When it was time to pause, a brilliant Pedri took command, moving the ball and moving himself, passing and leaving, not standing still and seeming to dance with ballet slippers. In a play like this came the goal that opened the scoring. It was around half an hour when the Canary connected with Gavi. The Andalusian turned around trying a roulette wheel that went a long way. But that’s where Pedri went in to get the ball and put it in the net with a low shot.
The goal did justice to the game and brightened the evening in Montjuïc, with the public, beyond debates on the entertainment stands, cheering the goal and warming up an atmosphere that in this venue always feels cold.
It was complex, however, to maintain that level of pressure. Due to concentration and legs, it seemed normal to suffer some disconnection and that is what occurred in the throes of the first half when Atlético linked a couple of plays with meaning although without completion. Simeone’s men didn’t even finish until half-time with Julián Álvarez who had barely intervened. It would be difficult to do less than Atlético in this phase of the match, but the match was by no means resolved.
You had to row to tie it. Fermínn was close to putting the finishing touch on him but he ran into Oblak’s legs after a magnificent service from Pedri. It’s a shame that the man from Campillo is not confident in finishing this season. Quite the opposite of Raphinha, who also bordered on the second with a shot against the crossbar after another great pass from Pedri. Barça deserved to increase the lead, but what came was the tie after a bad rebound by Casadó, forced, which De Paul took advantage of to score from the edge of the area. It was Atlético’s first shot on goal. Maximum efficiency after forgiving Barcelona. A hard blow. To combat it, Barça moved pieces and Olmo and Ferran Torres entered while Atlético returned to the cave to plug more holes than with the lottery. Of course, when he came out he had 1-2. If he did not achieve it, it was because Peña deflected a free shot from Barrios with his foot. At the origin, another mistake by Casadó.
The game was on the wire and now it was Olmo who was an inch away from the goal. The Blaugrana team finished the match by knocking on the door but without knocking it down. In the penultimate Raphinha, without an angle, he could not beat Oblak and in the last the goalkeeper grew bigger to thwart a Pedri shot. Stop how Sorloth hit the target at the end of the addition. A resounding punishment that leaves Barça destroyed.
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