The misfortune of one person makes the happiness of others. This formula suits the distance duel between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona perfectly. The three consecutive draws at Casa Blanca allowed the Blaugranas to take the lead in the championship last weekend, three points ahead of their evening opponent. It was now necessary to confirm at home, at the Nou Camp, against the other big arm of La Liga: Atlético de Madrid, also in great form with its 7 consecutive successes in all competitions.
This shock at the top quickly kept its promises, especially since there were almost no absentees on both sides since only Araujo and De Jong were missing at Barça, just before Cardoso left the Madrid side in the 14th minute. Despite this hard blow, the Colchoneros got off to a good start. Their pressing hurt and, more unusual in this type of confrontation, they managed to take risks in their ball exit. It was even on a ball on the edge of offside that they opened the scoring.
Barça turns the situation around
Molina recovered from Raphinha and alerted Baena with a touch, who surprised the defense behind, to finish by erasing Joan Garcia (0-1, 20th). Nothing to make Barça doubt, however. The Catalans had already regained momentum before this opening score and quickly equalized through Raphinha, who inherited a perfect opening from Pedri (1-1, 26th). This highlight did not last to see the debates balance out, like the situation that Baena did not materialize (32nd) and the penalty obtained by Olmo but missed by Lewandowski, off target (36th). Oblak then put him in check (38th).
The entry of Gallagher at the break did not necessarily bring the necessary balance to Atlético. The two teams again went blow for blow with Raphinha (53rd) then Giuliano Simeone (54th). Lewandowski, definitely not in a great evening, could not take this cross from his Brazilian winger (57th). The arrivals of Sorloth and Almada (62nd) were good but they took a while to be felt, the fault of Olmo’s goal, which gave Barça the advantage (2-1, 65th), in addition to going out injured. The failure of Lamine Yamal in a counter position (73rd) left some suspense in this match.
The last quarter of an hour was exclusively rojiblanco. Thiago Almada could have equalized with a fantastic number but there was one touch too many to miss the target (79th). Sortloth also had a very good situation which he could not conclude, while Griezmann, who entered a few minutes earlier, had a huge match point (90th + 2). The cross from the left was probably a bit too far behind to allow the Frenchman to equalize. As a result, Barça managed to maintain an ultimately larger advantage. If Oblak had put Rashford in check (90th + 3), Ferran did not tremble on this ball from the Englishman (3-1, 90th + 6). Barça consolidates its lead at the top of La Liga with 4 points ahead of Real, and 6 over its evening opponent.
