Very commendable victory for Barça against an Atlético de Madrid that made things very difficult, but they managed to overcome and ended up scoring heavily. The bench was key again, with 15 goals scored by players coming on as substitutes, an extremely important statistic to understand how engaged Barça's squad is. Meanwhile, the red-and-white team held on well until the 80th minute, but in the end, both mental and physical fatigue were noticeable.
New Strike by Julián
The match began with a dominant Barça, pressing high and making it difficult for Atleti to play comfortably. As a result, some chances came, the clearest one was by Lamine with a shot that went just wide. Lewandowski also had some chances, in fact, in one of them the ball hit the crossbar when he was in a good position.
However, as the minutes passed, the colchoneros were gaining weight in the game and spending more time in the opponent's half. Szczęsny saved one from Julián, but the second was going to end up inside. Good build-up from the back, Griezmann switched it to Giuliano, and he set it up for the Argentine to put the 1-0 on the scoreboard.
This only goal came in the final minutes of the first half, unleashing joy at the Metropolitano. A morale boost for an Atlético that has gone from less to more without showing any signs of fatigue.
Bench Effect
The second half of this match is one of those that are not easily forgotten, perhaps one of the best so far in the League. Barça sought the equalizer from the start, but it wasn't coming, and Atleti was getting stronger at the back. Moreover, their counterattacks were very dangerous, and in one of them, they were going to score the second. Sorloth, who has scored in six consecutive matches against Barça, made it 2-0 after a good build-up from the back.
With this result, the visitors needed to score quickly to get back into the game, and that's when Roberto Lewandowski appeared. Íñigo's cross, exquisite control by the Pole, and goal, his 22nd in the championship. This wasn't going to end here, 5 minutes later, Raphinha saw Ferrán's run between the center-backs, and the Valencian headed in the equalizer.
Culé Ecstasy
After the 2-2, Barça wanted the victory, and that's when Lamine appeared, a shot from outside the area that deflected off Reinildo, deceiving Oblak. But, the final touch of the match was yet to come, Raphinha recovered a ball in the last minute and set it up for Ferrán, who made it 2-4.Spectacular comeback by a team that has once again risen from a very adverse result, in what is Flick's first victory against Atlético de Madrid this year.
Now comes the international break, two weeks in which Flick will hope for no injuries. Upon return, Barça will host Girona, and Atlético de Madrid will face Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium.
