Barcelona 3-1 Atletico Madrid

Barcelona took a huge step forward in their title aspirations with an eventually comfortable 3-1 win over title rivals Atletico Madrid at Camp Nou yesterday. Los Rojiblancos took the lead in the 19th minute through Alex Baena but goals from Raphinha, Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres in stoppage time ensured the points for the Catalan side. Robert Lewandowski also missed a penalty, otherwise it could have been a bigger margin.

Both sides lined up in a 4231 and Julian Alvarez started up top for Diego Simeone’s side with Giuliano Simeone on the right, Alex Baena on the left and Nico Gonzalez in attacking midfield. Robert Lewandowski started up top for Barcelona, he was flanked by Raphinha and Lamine Yamal to his left and right, with Dani Olmo in attacking midfield. Pedri also returned to the lineup after a spell out due to injury.

From minute 1, the match between Barcelona and Atlético Madrid was a highly dramatic and pivotal encounter, ultimately seeing Barcelona come from behind to secure a 3-1 victory. The intensity was felt early on, with Raphinha taking a shot in the 8th minute that went over the bar, registering a wayward shot.

Atlético Madrid were forced into an early, unplanned substitution in the 14th minute when Jorge Koke replaced Johnny due to an injury. Five minutes later, Atleti took the lead. In the 19th minute, Álex Baena scored the opener, brilliantly springing the offside trap and calmly slotting past goalkeeper Joan Garcia after a great pass from Nahuel Molina. A VAR check confirmed the goal, showing Baena was level with Pau Cubarsi.

Barcelona quickly responded to the setback. In the 26th minute, Raphinha equalized (1-1) by getting on the end of a killer through ball from Pedri, rounding Jan Oblak and finishing into the empty net.
The momentum swung heavily towards the home side, though they failed to capitalize immediately. In the 37th minute, Jan Oblak showcased his brilliance, producing a save by brilliantly clawing out a towering header from Robert Lewandowski following a cross from Lamine Yamal. A minute later, Barcelona were awarded a penalty after Pablo Barrios fouled Dani Olmo in the area. However, Robert Lewandowski missed the opportunity entirely, blasting the effort high over the crossbar in a wild miss, marking a highly consequential wayward shot.

The first half ended dramatically as Gerard Martin was booked with a yellow card for a rash sliding tackle on Giuliano Simeone during an Atleti counter-attack. The Atleti bench called for a red card for the challenge. The half concluded with the score tied at 1-1.
The second half began with Lamine Yamal taking a wayward shot in the 49th minute that went comically wide of the goal.

Both sides then made tactical and forced changes around the hour mark. In the 62nd minute, Atleti made a change, with Alexander Sorloth replacing Giuliano Simeone. Then, Álex Baena was substituted off in the 63rd minute due to an apparent injury, replaced by Thiago Almada.
Barcelona then took the lead in the 65th minute. Dani Olmo scored the goal to put Barca ahead with a powerful low strike after pouncing on a loose ball inside the box. However, the celebrations were short-lived as Olmo unfortunately injured his shoulder in the follow-through of the shot. Due to this injury, Dani Olmo was replaced by Ferran Torres in the 67th minute. Robert Lewandowski was also substituted in the same minute, replaced by Marcus Rashford.

The chances continued for the hosts. In the 68th minute, Lamine Yamal cut in from the right and curled a shot towards the far corner, but it was fractionally wide, resulting in another near miss.
Further substitutions followed in the 74th minute, Pedri was replaced by Dro Fernández due to concerns over an injury , and Raphinha was replaced by Marc Casadó. Atleti countered this in the 75th minute by introducing Antoine Griezmann to replace the earlier substitute, Koke. Jan Oblak made another important save for Atleti in the 77th minute, flicking Lamine Yamal’s dangerous back-post corner out with his fingertips for another corner.

Atleti created a great chance to equalize in the 80th minute, but substitute Thiago Almada could not capitalize. He burst across the penalty area, dribbled past two defenders, but scuffed his finish wide of the goal, registering a wayward shot and near miss. Oblak later stated that Atleti needed to score on chances like this. Barcelona then made their final substitution in the 87th minute, with Andreas Christensen replacing Lamine Yamal.

In stoppage time, Jan Oblak continued his excellent performance, making a fine save with his feet to deny a powerful shot from substitute Marcus Rashford, who raced into the box from the left. Two minutes later, in the 93rd minute, Atleti missed their last major opportunity. Antoine Griezmann missed a glorious chance, scuffing his effort to the corner flag when the net should have bulged.
Finally, Barcelona sealed the victory in the 96th minute. Ferran Torres scored the third goal with a smart finish from close-range, assisted by Alejandro Balde’s low cross on a counterattack. The match ended shortly after with the final score Barcelona 3-1 Atlético Madrid.