FC
Barcelona versus Atletico Madrid – Laliga Match Review – March 3, 2018
League
leaders Barcelona took on 2nd placed Atletico Madrid in a tense and vital game.
After some horrendous refereeing forced Barca to share points with a totally undeserving Las Palmas last week, just 5 points separated Barca and Atleti in
the league table. A draw would cut the difference to 4, while a Atleti win
would make it just a 2 point difference, throwing the LaLiga title race wide
open.
Valverde
fielded his strongest 11 and the first half was totally dominated by the
Blaugranas as Atleti looked to absorb the pressure and defended deep. Almost all
their 10 players were in their own half defending. It was a game plan that suited
Barcelona as they kept attacking, but couldn’t finish it off against the
extremely defensive Atletico.
As
usual, there were some heavy tackles from the Madrid team, with Iniesta, Messi and Suarez at
the receiving end. It was nightmarish to see the Atletico defenders having a go
at the opposition with their studs high up. Vrsaljko, Saul, Gabi and Thomas
were extremely rough but got away from stronger punishments.
A
dominant Barca kept creating chances and forced a number of corners, but Oblak and
his defenders were up to the task, denying Barca any chance to score. A mesmerizing
Messi managed to dribble past a maze of Atleti defenders but his final shot was
weak and easily saved by Oblak.
Around
the 25th minute, Suarez and Coutinho played a good one two between
themselves before passing the ball to Messi who was fouled right outside the box
by Thomas and Barca earned a free kick. Messi sent in a beautiful shot aimed at
the top corner and despite Oblak’s fingers brushing it, the ball flew past him
into the goal to give Barcelona a well-deserved 1-0 lead. This was the third
consecutive match in which Messi had scored from a free kick this season in La
Liga. A stupendous effort from the magician to get to 600 goals in his career.
While
Atletico sat back and defended with all their might, Barcelona continued to
probe for a 2nd goal. In the meantime, sadly, the awesome Iniesta had
to be replaced due to a hamstring injury and Valverde brought in Andre Gomes,
in his place, much to the discomfort of the fans. The collective groans were
evident as Andre Gomes struggled to keep pace with the rest of his teammates. Suarez
and Coutinho forced saves from Oblak as half time approached. Atletico was all
defense as Griezmann and Costa were nowhere to be seen in the 1st
half.
In
the second half, Simeone brought in aggressive substitutions in the form of Correa
and Gameiro and it had an immediate effect on Atletico as they pressed forward.
Despite more possession and aggression, Atleti never managed any coordinated
attack. Ter Stegen was practically untested in the entire game as the defense
of Barca withstood all the pressure admirably. Pique (half fit), Umtiti, Sergi
Roberto and Jordi Alba defended courageously and everyone stepped up including
Andre Gomes, much to the delight of the fans, who cheered him readily.
Towards
the fag end of the game, Gameiro found the net from a Diego Costa pass but it
was correctly ruled offside. Though it was an intense affair, there was only one shot on target by Atletico
in the entire game. Simeone may have had the meanest defense in La Liga but it
was the defense of Barcelona that impressed the most in this game. Add to that,
the potency of Messi and that makes it a fabulous mix.
Post-match,
Simeone was of the opinion that Messi was the only difference between the two
teams. I beg to differ. Messi had been brilliant for the past decade for Barca,
but many a times his brilliance was overshadowed by shoddy defending. This
season had been different. The compact and effective defense of Barcelona, comprising
of Pique, Umtiti, Vermaelen, Semedo, Sergi Roberto, Jordi Alba and Digne had a huge
impact that had been adding to the brilliance of Messi. Iniesta, Busquets and
Rakitic have been exceptional in the midfield. Add to it, the enthusiasm and
hard work of players like Luis Suarez, Countinho, Dembele and Andre Gomes (particularly in
this game) and that makes the current Barcelona a determined team. No wonder FC
Barcelona are crossing one hurdle after another, when everyone else are
expecting them to falter. Keep winning Barca. You deserve everything for your
courage, attitude and teamwork. Vamos!
Finally
something about the special little guy that the coach Ernesto Valverde
had to say at the end of the game – “There’s no one like him in the world. I
don’t know what would have happened [if he’d been on the other team] nor do I
want to imagine it.”
Neither do we want ever to imagine that.
ForcaBarca!
ViscaBarca!
Comments
Post a Comment