February 06, (THEWILL) – With a sensational 4-2 home victory on Sunday afternoon, Barcelona leapfrogged Atletico Madrid into the top four of La Liga.
A fast-paced exchange of goals in the first 10 minutes stripped a tremendously engaging contest of the cageyness that often creeps into a high stakes match. Yannick Carrasco scored with a sharp finish after former Barcelona favourite Luis Suarez set him up, but Jordi Alba quickly and delightfully equalised.
Adama Traore teased Mario Hermoso throughout the first half before teeing up a header for the diminutive Gavi as Barcelona seized a 21st-minute lead.
The early threat Diego Simeone’s visitors posed, particularly through Joao Felix, dissipated as the Argentine manager tweaked and tinkered with his team’s strategy. Initially setting up in a 4-5-1 off the ball, Atletico switched between a 4-4-2 and a 5-3-2 in a desperate attempt to contain a Barcelona side playing their most fluent game in recent times.
Taking the chance of a rebound, Ronald Araujo made it 3-1 on the stroke of halftime, as Atletico conceded their ninth set piece goal of the season.
Barcelona was having their full skipping down Atletico’s other wing through Gavi and Frenkie de Jong after bolstering the flank that Traore attacked in the first half. Gavi’s cutback bobbled to Dani Alves for a fizzing drive into the bottom corner four minutes after the interval, thanks to Los Rojiblancos’ surprisingly porous backline.
After that, the ever-vigilant Simeone made three substitutions, but it was one of the players who remained on the field who sparked the final half-hour for the visitors, as Suarez converted a 58th-minute corner.
Barcelona’s dominance in the first half had visibly weakened, with the score gap reduced to two. However, this shift in balance may not fully explain why Alves got sent off for sinking his studs into Carrasco’s leg, leaving the hosts to fend off the defending champions for the last 20 minutes with a numerical disadvantage.
Barcelona surrendered control to Atletico after weathering the opening flurry of pressure. The handicapped hosts neutralised Atleti in a reversal of styles that dominated the fiery exchange of words between the two managers prior to the game, employing two banks of four in a block that Simeone may have admired for its efficiency.
With their victory, Barcelona jumped ahead of Atletico Madrid into fourth position. Barca’s unbeaten streak against Atletico at Camp Nou now stands at 16 league games.
The Catalan side is now two points ahead of the champions. They may have faded in the second half, but they still managed to score with all four of their shots on goal. That is the clinicality they need to stay in the top four, and it is something Atleti now lacks.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
