Barcelona capitalized on Real Madrid’s third successive draw, tightening their grip at the top of La Liga with a commanding 3-1 comeback victory over Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp. Hansi Flick’s side showed great resilience after falling behind early.
Atletico entered the match on the back of a seven-game winning streak across all competitions and had not lost in the league since August 17. However, their momentum was halted as Barcelona handed them a much-needed reality check.
Barca Bounce Back After Early Atletico Strike
Despite Barca’s control, it was Atletico who struck first. Alex Baena broke through the defensive line after receiving a pinpoint through ball from Nahuel Molina.
Seven minutes later, Barcelona responded. Raphinha rounded goalkeeper Jan Oblak after a brilliant Pedri pass and calmly slotted the ball into an empty net.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒄 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕,” 𝒂 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒒𝒖𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈.
Barcelona had chances to go ahead before halftime. Pablo Barrios brought down Dani Olmo in the box, but Robert Lewandowski sent the resulting penalty over the bar. Oblak then denied him again with a strong save from a header.
Second-Half Surge Seals Barca’s Victory
Barcelona came out firing after the break. Olmo found the net with a precise low left-footed strike from Lewandowski’s delivery, beating Oblak to give Barca the lead.
Shortly after scoring, Olmo left the field with a shoulder injury, with Lewandowski also substituted. Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford were introduced as replacements.
Torres eventually killed off Atletico’s hopes, scoring from close range after a sharp low cross from Alejandro Balde.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔,” 𝒂 𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒂 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉.
Barca Pulls Clear at the Top
With the victory, Barcelona now stands four points clear of Real Madrid, having played one game fewer. Flick’s team sits on 37 points from 15 outings. Even if Real win their trip to Athletic Bilbao, Xabi Alonso’s side will still trail behind the league leaders.
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