Barcelona beat Atlético Madrid, tighten grip on La Liga top spot | OneFootball

In the first minute of play, high pressing forced an error in Aleti’s buildup and the Culé side was close to opening the scoring. At the 8-minute mark, Flick’s men put together a good collective move that ended with a shot from Raphinha over Oblak’s crossbar.

The match had its first big emotional moment before anything football-related: at the ten-minute mark, Camp Nou once again loudly chanted the name of Lionel Messi. “Messi, Messi, Messi” echoed from the stands in an ovation reminiscent of the previous match.

The rhythm of the game was interrupted by Johnny Cardoso’s injury, who had to leave the field and was replaced by Koke in the 14th minute. Barcelona kept pushing and Lamine Yamal tried his luck from outside the box in the 15th minute, but his shot went wide.

The first controversy of the night came at the 19-minute mark. Ricardo de Burgos Bengoetxea called offside after a deep pass from Nahuel Molina to Álex Baena. However, after a VAR review, the referee overturned the decision and validated Atlético’s 1-0 lead.

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The visitors’ lead didn’t last long. Just a few minutes later, the Brazilian Raphinha showed up to equalize the match. The winger received a through ball from Pedri, controlled it inside the area, dribbled past the goalkeeper, and scored to make it 1-1, quickly restoring parity to the scoreboard.

From the Brazilian’s goal onward, Barcelona definitively took control of the match and began to dominate Diego Simeone’s team, especially by exploiting the flanks. The pressure and territorial dominance translated into clear chances. Lewandowski had two opportunities. First, he was involved in a penalty committed on Dani Olmo, which he took himself, but ended up missing. Then, the Pole had another clear chance in the 38th minute, with a header that forced Oblak into a great save to keep it at 1-1.

In the final stretch of the first half, Giuliano Simeone suffered a tough foul on the right wing and the match was paused while he received treatment. From the resulting free kick, Atlético de Madrid came close to taking the lead again, but Barcelona’s defense managed to clear the danger and keep it 1-1 until halftime.

The second half began with the same intensity as the first. Atlético quickly threatened with a shot from Julián Álvarez that Ter Stegen handled without trouble. The game became scrappy, with several fouls in just a few minutes and constant interruptions. In a double substitution, Simeone brought on Thiago Almada and Alexander Sørloth, the latter replacing Giuliano Simeone, in an attempt to change the pace of the match while the score remained 1-1.

But Barcelona managed to strike. After an extraordinary one-two between Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski, the Spaniard found himself in front of goal and finished with class to make it 2-1 in the 65th minute. However, the joy was not complete: in the same play as the goal, Olmo suffered a shoulder issue that left him lying on the pitch.

In a match that became frenetic, Barcelona lost Dani Olmo and also Pedri, while Atlético turned to the bench, bringing on Griezmann to try to regain control. The clearest chance of this period, however, was for the visitors: Thiago Almada had the goal at his feet that could have tied the match. The Argentine produced a brilliant move inside the box, dribbling past three defenders with a display of class, but when he was one-on-one and about to finish, he couldn’t direct his shot on target.

When Aleti seemed to be getting closer and closer to an equalizer, piling on crosses and shots in the final minutes, the Culé side found the definitive blow. After withstanding a couple of dangerous attacks, the home team broke quickly and sealed the match in added time. Ferran Torres, in the 96th minute, tapped in a precise cross from Alejandro Balde to make it 3-1.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.