Barça takes revenge on Atlético and takes a giant step forward in La Liga

BarcelonaLamine Yamal and Ferran Torres, with two goals in added time that They left the Metropolitan with a palm of their nose, They completed a comeback worth its weight in gold (2-4). Barça overturned a 2-0 deficit at Atlético de Madrid to secure a victory that could prove decisive in the future of La Liga. In the third, Hansi Flick finally got the better of Cholo Simeone and did so by paying him back in kind: completing the comeback in the final minutes of a very cruel week for the Colchoneros. The Blaugrana team is a leader with the makings of a champion.

Barça came out at the Metropolitano with the desire to impose their narrative. The first few minutes were blaugrana's. During the opening quarter of an hour, Flick's men closed in on their opponents in the box. Atlético defended tooth and nail, withdrawn, unashamed of forgetting that football is played with a ball, on loan to the Blaugranas. The fear of Simeone's men came from Lamine Yamal, with a beautiful association with Dani Olmo on the edge of the box that ended with the Rocafonda native stepping into the box and sending a shot that grazed Jan Oblak's goalpost.

It seemed as though the next chance wouldn't be long in coming after this first chance, as Flick's Barça are accustomed to greasing their scoring machine by creating opportunities. Flick's Barça like to run to hurt their opponents, to be direct, to find yards ahead so Raphinha and Lamine Yamal can rub their hands together and make their markers dance. Atlético denied them all of this: they forced them to attack statically, turning the first half into a sandwich of stones for the Blaugranas, who gradually faded as they fell into their opponent's defensive trap.

A sandwich of stones for Barça

While they were nullifying Barça offensively, the Colchoneros were coming out of the woodwork. Their anti-football attitude paid off; they felt comfortable and dared to occasionally pinch Barça's advanced defense, with Szczesny alert on some excursions into the latifundia that was generated behind the center-backs. With Raphinha and Lewandowski nullified, the one who tried the most was Lamine Yamal, well defended by Reinildo, who received constant help from a dedicated Lino. Simeone's teams already have this: no matter how much talent he accumulates in the squad, he often neglects to play the ball to turn his players into an army of defenders.

Pedri and Olmo, well guarded, were also uncomfortable. This created a dull, boring first half in which little happened, and all that happened was in the final minutes and favored the home side. Just before halftime, the Canary Islander finally managed to connect with Lewandowski on the edge of the box. The Pole delivered a good reverse while controlling the ball, but he had too much touch, drifted too far, and was left with less and less space. Although he got a powerful shot, it just sailed over the bar.

The hosts, on the other hand, would score. Five touches were enough for them to score: Oblak's pass on the left flank of the Atlético Madrid attack, Lino leapt past Kounde and laid off Griezmann, who delivered a brilliant pass to the generous Giuliano, who laid the goal off for Julián. The plan worked perfectly for Atlético, who went into the break leading while Pedri called out to his teammates.

After the break, Barça, after a long talk from Flick in the locker room, came out ready to bite. Bravely, the Catalan side pushed their lines even further forward, willing to take the risks this entailed. Atlético, with the precious asset of having the score in their favor, went all out for counterattacks, with Simeone bringing on Sorloth to boost his team's direct play, knowing he would find space behind the Barça defense. Flick also shook things up a bit, bringing on Ferran and Eric.

Crucial goal from Robert Lewandowski

Once again, the plan would work for the Colchoneros. Sorloth, who has scored in every game this season against Barça, would finish off a counterattack launched by Barrios, followed by Gallagher and finished by the Norwegian giant. The action was challenged for a handball by De Paul, which De Burgos Bengoetxea missed, but VAR didn't intervene because the infraction had occurred in the play leading up to the goal.

The game could have become a disaster for the Blaugranas, but Barça showed their faith and just two minutes after the 2-0, Lewandowski invented a superb goal. The Pole chested down a cross from Iñigo on the edge of the box and, very quickly, sent a left-footed shot out of reach of Oblak. The goal, with just under twenty minutes left, was the boost the Blaugranas needed.

Raphinha, who had been in the dark until then, redeemed himself with a powerful cross into the heart of the box that Ferran, playful and skillful in his runs, converted into the equalizer with a confident header. In a second half in which everything would happen, Lamine Yamal scored a goal in stoppage time—luckily, because his shot bounced off Reinildo—that was much more than a goal: it was revenge against Atlético and could be worth half the league title. Ferran, right at the end, would add to the injury by scoring the fourth. Barça are top of the table.