Image Credit- The Guardian.
League Leaders F.C. Barcelona were facing Atlético Madrid in an important La Liga encounter. The fixture would decide who will remain at the top of the table on the Christmas Eve. As, a result both the teams wanted to win this game. Atlético Madrid were in a better form as compared to Blaugranes, but since the game was to be played in Barcelona everyone felt the Hosts to be the favorite. Using a classic 4-3-3 formation, Barçelona's wingers played wide and high to stretch Atletico's defense. They also passed the ball quickly through the lines to find Raphinha and Fermín López isolated against the full-backs, who could send crosses into the box or find players through the middle to create chances.
Additionally, the visitors were compelled to concede the ball quickly due to the intensity of the out-of-possession play, which allowed Barça to play its best half of football in a long time. From the first whistle, the Colchoneros were under siege from the home team and had to contend with a lot of shots. The Blaugrana were fierce, focused, and effective both with and without the ball. Pedri's incredible solo run down the left channel, his fantastic one-two with Gavi at the edge of the box, and his beautiful goal into the far corner put the home team ahead. Atlético's excellent defensive structure held up pretty well for a half hour before a moment of individual brilliance finally unlocked them.
The visitors attempted to rally after falling behind, but they were unable to overcome Barça's offside trap. In the few times that Atleti posed a threat, Iñigo Martínez and Pau Cubarsí made excellent saves. Throughout that time, the Catalans were really at ease in the rear, and when the final whistle blew, they still had a clean sheet. At the end of 45 minutes the Hosts were 1-0 up and were looking for a comfortable win.
Fermín missed an easy one-on-one with Jan Oblak, and Raphinha was extremely unlucky when his attempted lob over the keeper struck the crossbar and missed. Barça continued to dominate the first half of the final period, creating two incredible chances to double their lead before the hour mark and causing plenty of problems with their high pressing. Soon after the hosts failed to capitalize on those chances, Atletico launched a counterattack, and Marc Casadó's clumsy attempt to clear a cross by Julián Álvarez put the ball right in the path of Rodrigo De Paul, who found the bottom corner and equalized against the run of play to put Atleti back in the game.
Oblak came to life as Barça dominated Atletico in the closing minutes and generated numerous chances. The goalie produced incredible save after incredible save to keep his club alive, including two one-on-ones against Raphinha and Pedri. Atlético went on the attack in the 96th minute, Nahuel Molina timed his move perfectly to break the offside trap, and he provided a great cross to find Sorloth, who won it with a brilliant goal. Despite their best efforts, the Catalans lost in the final minute of the game. The Players went down on the pitch. The crowd went silent. The impossible had happened. Atlético Madrid has won a game in Barcelona.
To be honest it reminded us all of the 2017 Messi's winner against Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabéu. The game was evenly poised there, but the individual brilliance of Sergio Roberto and Lionel Messi produced a winning result in the final kick of the game.
Similar happened today after 7 years. This Game was indeed a classic and will be remembered for ages to come. Despite dominating game for most of the period, Barcelona lost in the harshest possible manner. I believe this is what football is all about.
To watch the Highlights of the Game, Click Here.
