Atlético Madrid and FC Barcelona faced each other yesterday in the first of three matches in 11 days. Besides the league game on Saturday evening, both teams will also meet in the quarter finals of the Champions League.
The two sides had already played three times before this season. Barcelona won 3:1 on matchday 19 in the Camp Nou and in the Copa del Rey Atlético could just not fully come back from an earlier 4:0 defeat at home. So the previous games between them did not disappoint.
The Catalans also had a big chance to improve their position in the table, because earlier in the day Real Madrid lost 2:1 away at Mallorca. With a win, Barcelona could take a lead of 7 points and many fans would already say the title race is over. It could become an Easter to remember for Hansi Flick’s side.
The visitors knew what they had to do and Atleti chose to rotate their squad a lot. Still, the first chance was for them. After 10 minutes Nahuel Molina found Antoine Griezmann, who dribbled in a great way past Pau Cubarsi and Ronald Araújo. The hardest part seemed done, but his shot went straight at Joan Garcia. Griezmann has never scored for Atlético against Barça in the domestic league and that record looks set to continue.
After that chance Barcelona took control of the game, with Lamine Yamal once again playing a key role. First he gave a perfect trivela pass to Fermín Lopez, but he could not stay calm in front of goal. Then it was Yamal himself, set up by Fermín, but his chip hit the post.
Atlético were under pressure, but when Clement Lenglet played a beautiful long ball to Giuliano Simeone, the home team took the lead. The Argentine controlled the ball like a real striker and finished perfectly into the right corner past Joan Garcia for 1:0.
That lead did not last long, because just 3 minutes later it was level again. Marcus Rashford, the replacement of the injured Raphina, combined with Dani Olmo and the Spanish midfielder put him through on goal. The Englishman kept his nerves and finished between the legs of Juan Musso.
Not much later things got worse for Los Rojiblancos, as they went down to 10 men just before half time. After a long ball Nico Gonzalez brought down his direct opponent Yamal. Referee Mateo Busquets first gave a second yellow card, but after a VAR check it was changed to a red card.
The second half had just started when Mateo Busquets showed another red card. After Gerard Martin stepped on the ankle of Thiago Almada, the defender was sent off. However, after a VAR review the red card was changed to a yellow. The whole stadium was in disbelief, as the replay clearly showed contact with the ankle. Barcelona were very lucky there.
The Martin escape meant the visitors could play the entire second half with one man more, but still found it difficult to break through the low block of Atlético. When they did create chances, they were stopped by a strong Juan Musso. The Argentine goalkeeper denied substitute Ferran Torres of scoring with an excellent save.
It looked like the match would end in a draw, but the winner came very late for the team of Hansi Flick. In the 87th minute João Cancelo cut inside and his shot was first saved once again by Musso, but substitute Robert Lewandowski was there to score the rebound. He scored the winning goal with his chest and the entire Barcelona crowd went wild.
Barcelona won the match 1:2 and took all three points back to Catalonia. It is an important step towards their 29th league title. Just like last season, Barça managed to win at the Metropolitano, but this time it cost them a lot of energy until the very end.
That is something Diego Simeone will like. He was able to rest key players like Julián Álvarez and Ademola Lookman. The next match is already on Wednesday at Camp Nou, where we will see who takes the first step towards the semi finals of the Champions League
