Review of the Barcelona Athletic match. Athletico - Barcelona review
Madrid. Wanda Metropolitano Stadium. 64 226 spectators
Atlético 0-1 Barcelona
Goal: Messi, 86
"Atletico": Oblak, Trippier, Felipe, Hermoso, Saul, Herrera (Lodi 87), Tomas, Correa (Lemar 73), Koke, Joao Felix (Vitolo 66), Morata
Coach: Diego Simeone
"Barcelona": ter Stegen, Roberto, Piqué (Umtiti 83), Lengle, Firpo, Rakitic, Artur (Vidal 73), de Jong, Messi, Griezmann, Suarez
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
Warned: Thomas 8, Correa 21, Vitolo 69, Felipe 73 - Firpo 18, Pique 32, Rakitic 51, Lengle 65
In Madrid, to the accompaniment of decent rain, the central match of the 15th round of the Spanish La Liga took place. “Atletico” once again under the leadership of Diego Simeone could not beat “Barcelona” in the match of the championship of Spain, although the hosts, at least, did not deserve defeat in terms of the game. But in the next game, the result was made by Lionel Messi, who improved the moment at the end of the meeting for delivering an accurate blow. The Blaugranas captain's goal was the only one of the match, and Ernesto Valverde's team, thanks to this victory, regained the lead in La Liga, once again beating Real Madrid on goal difference.
Both teams had a duel not in optimal lineups. Atlético are still forced to do without the main pair of centre-backs Savic-Giménez, as well as striker Diego Costa. At the same time, the central midfielder Saul went to the position of the left back, and the Mexican Hector Herrera took his place in the center of the field. The Catalans did without the main laterals, Semedo and Alba, suspended Sergio Busquets and striker Ousmane Dembele, who was out for several months. Sergi Roberto and Junior Firpo played on the flanks of the guests' defense, and Ivan Rakitic replaced Busquets. Well, we note the first game of Antoine Griezmann against his former team. The Frenchman played the match far in the best way, and his every touch of the ball was expectedly accompanied by the whistle of the Madrid fans.
“Atletico” actively rushed to the attack immediately after the starting whistle, but this activity of the hosts did not last long. However, already in the 7th minute, "Mattress" were very close to opening an account. The second wave of attack after the set-piece brought the ball back to penalty area"Blaugranas", then Hermoso performed a power backache, there was a rebound from Firpo, and the bar bailed out the guests. Soon the ball in the penalty area was already received by Alvaro Morata, whose kick was blocked by Pique in an excellent tackle.
"Atletico" owned a tangible advantage, but "Barcelona" was unrecognizable. As if not the champion of Spain at the “Wanda Metropolitano” arrived, but some “Leganes”, which was closed in his half of the field, not giving the opportunity to take a breath. Felipe scored an inaccurate header in the fight against Pique, Firpo brought the most dangerous free kick to his goal, and there the hosts created another great moment. Felix performed an excellent serve behind the backs of the defenders on Hermoso, who, from a lethal position, seemed to flash Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but at the last moment he somehow managed to save his team from the inevitable goal. The ball after touching the back of the German thigh flew along the goal line. Soon Herrera made a selection from the opponent's penalty area and struck well in general, but the ball went wide of the goal. Ter Stegen expressed everything he thought to both the referee and his partners.
In the middle of the half, finally, and “Barcelona” answered Madrid, and the moment was created quite a goal. Messi took the ball on the flank, dragged it to the penalty area, shot it, Suarez slyly missed on Rakitic, who from an advantageous position struck Jan Oblak. A few minutes later, Suarez fired well from a distance - a little off target. And “Atletico” in his next attack was again close to a goal – ter Stegen once again saved the Catalans, hitting the ball on the goal line after Morata hit his head with a bounce off the lawn. And again, the guests dangerously responded to the opponent's attack, and in the same way - after the drawing of the standard. Piqué famously hit his head, Oblak did not reach the ball a bit, but the crossbar came to the rescue of Atlético.
The second half was expected with great interest. It was thought that now the game would become even sharper, that moments would come, but the expectations were not entirely justified. There were moments, of course, but not that much. Madrid ruined several promising counterattacks, not bringing them to shots on goal. Yes, and the standards after the break in their performance did not carry a threat to the gates of the guests. Something managed to create and the Catalans. The cloud on the second attempt covered the ball after Messi's shot from a distance, then the Slovenian coped with the blow of Luis Suarez, who completed the fast counterattack of Barcelona, which was dispersed by Sergi Roberto. De Jong gave sightedly at Messi, but this time Lionel's shot was taken by Hermoso.
Diego Simeone took off Joao Felix, who was replaced by Vitolo, and Ernesto Valverde threw in Arturo Vidal. In the interval between these replacements, Antoine Griezmann had a chance to excel. After the transfer from Suarez, the Frenchman struck from the penalty area in touch on the fly - above the gate. Although, as for me, Antoine hastened. It was possible to take the ball, look around and make a more interesting decision. Soon Atlético created their best moment in the second half. The protracted attack of the hosts ended with a cross along the gate and Morata hit in touch with his heel - Sergi Roberto secured his goalkeeper, first arriving in time for the ball and knocking it far away.
At the end of the match, Ernesto Valverde had to withdraw from the game Pique, who was injured in a collision with Vitolo. Although Alena was already ready to enter the field at that moment, however, everything had to be replayed. Well, in the 86th minute, Barcelona scored winning goal although there were no signs of trouble. Frenkie de Jong passed the ball to Messi, who in his style accelerated, outplayed the wall with Luis Suarez and clearly shot into the corner of the goal from a semicircle near the penalty area. As the saying goes: "This has never happened before, and here it is again." “Atletico” rushed to recoup, but the hosts did not succeed – the defense of “Barcelona” worked reliably, blocking several shots, and Ter Stegen did not have to enter the game anymore. Even Cloud resorted to save the situation, but all in vain. 0-1 – Atlético loses at the Wanda Metropolitano for the first time in 19 matches and is already well behind Barcelona, Real Madrid and Sevilla.
It was extremely hot on the first day of winter in the Pyrenees. In the central match of the 15th round of the championship of Spain, Atlético Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano stadium hosted the Catalan Barcelona. IN last years the fights between these teams became super-principled, and in terms of tension they approached El Clasico. Interestingly, in La Liga matches, the "mattress" cannot beat the "Catalans" since 2010. Directly today's match was served by one of the best Spanish referees Antonio Mateo Laos.
Atlético Madrid -Barcelona 0:1
Real Madrid coach Diego Simeone set up a line-up close to optimal, choosing the standard 4-4-2 tactical scheme in every sense. In the infirmary of the team, a pair of central defenders Jimenez - Savic, as well as the odious striker Diego Costa. Barcelona arrived in the capital without four base players - Alba, Semedo, Busquets and Dembele are injured. Note that ex-player of Atlético Antoine Griezmann came out at the start. Today, the Frenchman received a huge portion of attention from the audience at the Wanda Metropolitano - every touch of the player was accompanied by a wild whistle.
With the starting whistle of Antonio Mateo Laos, the "mattress" actively got down to business and managed to stun the opponent. Simeone's wards squeezed the "Catalans" in their half of the field and entered into active pressure when the ball was lost. Sometimes Barça defenders had to kick the ball somewhere. Traditionally, Atletico built their attacks through the second floor.
In the 7th minute, Kieran Trippier closed the partner's cross and hit the post. In the 20th minute, Joao Felix's serve found Hermoso's head - the defender shot Ter Stegen from two meters, but the German once again confirmed the reputation of one of the best goalkeepers in the world, beating off the opponent's shot with his hip.
Only in the 26th minute, the Catalans were able to deliver the first blow to Jan Oblak's goal. The three-movers of Messi, Suarez, Rakitic were completed by the Croatian, but from an advantageous position he shot straight into the hands of the goalkeeper. In the 42nd minute, Gerard Pique was supposed to open the scoring - the center back's shot from the second floor was taken over by the crossbar.
Match Attendance: 64,226 spectators, which is 93.8% of the total capacity of the Wanda Metropolitano arena.
Atlético's activity in the first half was replaced by a cautious game from defense in the second half of the meeting. "Barcelona" squeezed the "mattress" in a vice, starting shelling the gates of Jan Oblak. In the 60th minute, Messi moved into a striking position and struck a dribble into the corner - Oblak reacted. A minute later, an easy prey for the Cloud was the blow of Luis Suarez. In the 69th minute, as a result of Barcelona's swift counter-attack, Antoine Griezmann could upset his former team, but hurried with the blow, running the ball to view the night scenery of Madrid.
Atlético snapped back in the 72nd minute. Angel Correa powerfully struck from the goalkeeper's corner, Morata and Vitolo were ready to fly into the goal with the ball, closing the far post, but Sergi Roberto became the hero of the episode, knocking the ball out in a timely manner.
The game was not spectacular, but it looked great. In the endgame, the coaches made the last substitutions. In the 80th minute, Vitolo crashed into the knees of Gerard Pique in a tackle. The center back of the Catalans was writhing in pain, after the help of the doctors he continued the game, but after three minutes he was forced to leave the field, he was replaced by Umtiti.
The denouement of the meeting came in the 86th minute. Messi got space in the center of the field, which categorically should not be given to the Argentine, stretched the ball a few meters, outplayed Luis Suarez and left Jan Oblak as an extra, 1-0.
Messi's stats against Atlético Madrid: 39 matches, 30 goals, 7 assists.
As a result, "Barcelona" outplays "Atletico" in a difficult match, continuing the unbeaten streak against the "mattress" to 19 matches. The hero of the meeting was Lionel Messi, who did not show something incredible, spent not far from best match, but did exactly as much as needed to win.
Barcelona return to the top position, sharing the lead with Real Madrid. Atlético falls to sixth place. In the next round, Barcelona is waiting for home match against Mallorca, while Atlético will play away against Villarreal.
Goal: Messi, 86.
"Atletico": Oblak - Trippier, Felipe, Hermoso, Saul - Correa (Lemar, 73), Herrera (Lodi, 87), Partey, Koke - Felix (Vitolo, 66), Morata.
Barcelona: ter Stegen - Roberto, Pique (Umtiti, 83), Lenglet, Firpo - Rakitic, de Jong, Arthur (Vidal, 74) - Messi, Suarez, Griezmann.
Warnings: Partey, Correa, Vitolo, Felipe - Firpo, Pique, Rakitic, Lenglet.
Championship game
In what looked like a final from the start, Barcelona played like champions. The Catalans defeated hard-working, tough team Atlético Madrid to extend their lead to 11 points at the top of the La Liga table and nearly secure the league title. The blue garnets were better and deserved to win, but Atlético fought like warriors with ten men until Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi finally found a way to break them, earn the crucial three points and effectively finish the title race.
First time
The start of the game was very even, with both teams in possession of the ball trying to create chances. The first threat was created at the end of 15 minutes of the game, when Lionel Messi gave a brilliant pass to Jordi Alba, who hit the post. Other than that, there wasn't a lot of action around both free kicks as both teams played solid defensively.
Barça had another huge chance when Philippe Coutinho found himself in a good position on the edge of the box, but Oblak saved his team. By this point, Barça were dominating and then Diego Costa received a red card for insulting the referee.
After the sending-off, Diego Simeone's team started playing in a 4-3-2 formation which caused a lot of problems for the blue garnet attack and Barça could not create a real chance to score, except for Messi's shot from outside the box, which was easily saved by the same cloud. The Atlético goalkeeper made another save after a header from Coutinho.
In the second half, Barça should have been sharper and more creative in the last third of the field.
Second half
In the second half, one scenario was prepared: Atlético went down in defense as a whole team, and the blue garnets had to be patient and creative to find opportunities to score. But the mattresses needed a win, so Simeone made a bold substitution: Alvaro Morata came on for Filipe Luis, and Saul Niguez went to the left-back position. The guests were ready to attack, which left free space for Barça.
The Catalans began to create counterattacks: Messi ran to the gates of Atlético and created chances for himself and others. Oblak kept making saves after shots from Messi, Suarez and Malcolm and it was only a matter of time before Barça scored. And it finally happened: first, Luis Suarez put his team ahead with a stunning billiard shot, and just a minute later, Leo Messi doubled the score, killing the game.
After Barça finally opened the Cloud's gate and secured the win, the players began to simply roll the ball in anticipation of the final whistle. He sounded and fixed the end of the title race. There are still seven games left, but Barça have an 11-point lead and an easy calendar. If nothing absolutely fantastic happens in the remaining matches, the Catalans will once again win the championship.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Roberto (Semedo), Piqué, Lenglet, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Arthur (Malcom); Messi, Suarez, Coutinho (Alena)
Goals: Suarez (85'), Messi (86')
Atlético: cloud; Arias (Correa), Jimenez, Godin, Filipe Luis (Morata); Koke, Rodri (Juanfran), Thomas, Saul; Griezmann, Diego Costa
Red cards: Diego Costa (28’)
Suarez goal (1:0)
Messi goal (2:0)
All news of the match Barcelona - Atlético Madrid
- 08-04-2019
- 08-04-2019
- 07-04-2019
- 07-04-2019
Before the match, everyone was interested in one question: will Atlético be able to return the intrigue to the fight for the championship in Spain? To do this, he needed to defeat the main competitor - Barcelona. Lost from first place would have been reduced up to 5 points. Alas, the miracle did not happen. The reason for the defeat of the guests in the removal of Diego Costa?
Starting Lineups
Valverde released the most basic composition. Compared to the last match, the coach made adjustments: Piqué, Rakitic and Messi came out from the first minutes. Dembele was unable to take part as he was injured and Vidal was disqualified. Simeone did not surprise with his choice: a counterattacking 4-4-2 formation.
Goals and highlights
Red card for Diego Coste
The player received for unsportsmanlike conduct: a verbal statement addressed to the referee. This episode was the turning point in the game! The guest coach immediately released Correa instead of the right-back Arias. This position is occupied by Thomas, and the substitute player played in tandem with Griezmann. The team switched to a 4-3-2 formation. In the second half Main coach releases Morata (!) instead of Filipe Luis. The place of the left back was taken by Saul, and Corea moved lower.
Barcelona were superior in xG to their rival: 2.57 vs. 1.03. According to the schedule, we can see that the Catalans have created 4 potentially scoring chances(circled), where only one was implemented.
Even before the removal of Costa (on the 29th minute), the hosts could print the Atlético's gate twice. First, Alba hit the post after a long pass from Messi. Let's single out Arias' gross mistake, who could not make an artificial offside, and a quality pass from Lionel. 
After a while, Cotutinho somehow did not outplay the goalkeeper Oblak from a lethal position. After that point, Barcelona's xG rose to 0.96! 
By the way, almost all the moments of Simeone's wards ended with shots wide of the goal. It only hit the target 2 times.
3rd moment does not implement Suarez! Messi ran away from his half of the field and gave the pass to a partner who hit the goalkeeper. Cloud saves again! 
It seemed that the "mattress" could withstand a draw with such pressure, but at the end of the game, Suarez opens the scoring. Thomas did not block his shot and the ball ended up in the net. No chance for the goalkeeper. It was lucky that Suarez hit the exact corner. A minute later, Messi "takes over the game" and doubles the score. Note Alba's pass from deep in the field. 
Player Ratings
In short, Messi is man of the match. He found teammates from deep in the field with long passes, scored a goal, has the highest xG value of 1.07 and landed 8 shots, 5 of them on target.
The second place must be given to the Cloud, who made 8 saves! Note that Valverde's substitutions did not improve the game. All players received scores below 7.0.
The result of the match Barcelona - Atlético Madrid (2:0)
1:0 — Suarez L. 85′
2:0 - Messi 86′
Match statistics
Possession Percentage: 64% - 36%
Beats: 21 - 9
Shots on target: 10 - 2
Corner: 5 - 1
offsides: 1 - 0
Saves: 2 - 8
Yellow cards: 3 - 4
Red cards: 0 - 1
