Atletico Madrid moved joint-top of the LaLiga on Saturday night with a 1-0 win over a struggling Barcelona side on Saturday, courtesy of a Yannick Carrasco goal.
Atletico came into the game full of confidence and hoped to maintain their unbeaten record in LaLiga this season – having won five and drawn two matches before kick-off.
After rivals Real Madrid dropped points earlier in the day, Diego Simeone’s men were looking to capitalise and earn themselves victory to progress up the table.
Barcelona have been struggling to find form all season and couldn’t find it once more on Saturday night. Under new manager Ronald Koeman, they’ve only managed three wins this campaign and were sitting eighth in the table before this fixture.
Simeone made two changes to his line-up from his previous 4-0 win over Cadiz. Left back Renan Lodi was replaced by Spanish centre half Mario Hermoso for more defensive stability in hopes to keep a certain Argentine by the name of Lionel Messi quiet.
Ex-Barcelona striker Luis Suarez was not available for Simeone’s selection after testing positive for coronavirus 24 hours before kick-off – eliminating the hope of him being able to haunt his former club.
For the visitors, Messi made his comeback in place of the injured Ansu Fati who suffered a knee injury last week which has ruled him out for four months.
Koeman also switched injured midfielder Sergio Busquets for summer signing Miralem Pjanic in the need for some midfield creativity.
The match began and to no surprise Simeone’s men were already set in their deep banks of four with Joao Felix and Angel Correa leading the line and trying to dictate play.
Barcelona managed to break down the left-hand side with Ousmane Dembele early on – something they’d look to do all match – who whipped in a devilish cross across the face of goal. It met the outstretched foot of team-mate Antoine Griezmann who poked the ball narrowly over the bar.
Two minutes later, Atletico midfielder Saul Niguez tried his luck from distance forcing Marc-Andre ter Stegen to dive down to his right and divert the ball away for a corner.
Both teams were composed in possession early on and it was clear to see the game-plans of each manager.
Barcelona were pressing at any opportunity and had a lot of energy. Within doing so they forced rare mistakes from the Atletico Madrid players to turn over possession.
Atletico, however, were doing what they’re notoriously good at under Simeone as they sat in their banks of four waiting for the ball to be given back to them. When that happens, they counter quickly utilising the pace and creativity of Carrasco, Marcos Llorente, Felix and Correa.
The counter-attack showed promise for Atletico in the 11th minute as Llorente found space out-wide after quick play out from the back released the Spaniard down the left. He struck a driven shot from inside the box, but only managed to find the outside of the post.
Atletico dominated the rest of the half and Barcelona were struggling to break down the highly-regimented side.
They did manage to create themselves half a chance however as Barca left back Jordi Alba showcased some skill to nutmeg Mario Hermoso and set Messi free. However, Barca’s talisman narrowed the angle for himself and was unable to convert.
Barcelona kept trying to threaten down their left-hand side utilising Dembele’s skill and pace to beat Atletico right back Kieran Trippier. This proved successful for large periods of the game.
However, just before half-time Atletico struck when they caught Barcelona on the counter-attack. Winning possession from a lose ball, Correa pinged a ball over the top for Carrasco to run on to. Not knowing the circumstances around him, the Belgian chased the loose ball and looked up to see Ter Stegen miles off his goal line before composing himself to nutmeg the German before shooting into an empty net from 35 yards out.
He managed to hit the ball with enough power and accuracy to carry it into the back of the net and punish a silly mistake from such a highly-rated goalkeeper putting Atletico one up at half-time.
The second half saw much of the same as the first as Barcelona tried to threaten primarily down their left-hand side. They also began to pose problems aerially too.
Atletico were not trying to play out any more. Instead they were lumping the ball forward at every opportunity to relive pressure so they could set up their impenetrable wall.
However, a big blow for Barcelona came in the second half when centre back Gerard Pique fell in a heap after colliding with Correa. The Spaniard twisted his knee and had to be replaced immediately with former Ajax full back Sergino Dest entering the fray.
From this moment on, Barcelona looked unsettled in defence – something Simeone tried to capitalise on by bringing on Diego Costa who seemingly bullied Dest at every opportunity.
Pique’s absence allowed saw a few more chances for Atletico but they all flashed wide with a missed header from Felix and some pot-shots from Niguez their best opportunites.
The last 10 minutes of the match saw Atletico more or less camped on the edge of their own box as Barcelona threw players forward in the hope rescue a point.
A flurry of shots inside the box in the 88th minute were frightening for Simeone’s men, but all were met with blocks from their rock-solid defence.
Barcelona thought they were close to equalising in dramatic fashion when right back Sergi Roberto’s long-range effort wad deflected off Jose Gimenez, but it narrowly went past the post.
Soon after the full-time whistle blew awarding Simeone’s side a well-deserved three points and giving Koeman lots to think about.
The result sees Atletico level on points with Real Sociedad at the top of LaLiga, although Atletico will have two games in hand when Sociedad travel to Cadiz on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Barcelona slip to 10th in the table on 11 points – nine behind Atletico and Real Sociedad – as the pressure grows on the Spanish giants.
By Louis Moore
