Barcelona edged past Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg at the Camp Nou, but the Catalans’ performance was as unconvincing in this match as in the loss they suffered at the hands of Real Madrid over the weekend.
Altetico Madrid were expected to play under the cosh for most of the match, but the Rojiblancos started the game off with a bang, with striker Fernando Torres scoring on the 25th minute to put the away side into the lead. At this point, it really seemed that the Catalans had lost their momentum.
It was a brilliant finish by Torres to put his team into the lead, but there were a couple of Barcelona players at fault. Atletico playmaker Koke, who got the assist for this goal, found himself in ample space inside the Barca half. Sergio Busquets, who was in the vicinity was caught ball-watching, as Koke received the pass from Gabi. Koke was just too quick and had left Busquets far behind, showing him a clean pair of heels.
Also Javier Mascherano, who was holding his defensive line could have sensed the danger and come to close Koke down as he was not marking anyone. However, it was Pique who realised the ample space that Koke had and came forward. The only problem with this move was that Pique was initially marking Torres.
By then it was too little too late for the Barcelona defender to do anything and Koke just threaded the pass off to Torres, who finished the move with a goal.
Atletico were containing the Barcelona attacks quite well in the first half, but one moment of madness from Torres completely turned the game on its head. Torres, who was already on a yellow card for a foul on Neymar, went for a reckless challenge on Busquets (who is quite well known for his theatrics). However, Torres’s foul on the Barcelona midfielder deserved a yellow card at least, and that was the end of the former Liverpool striker’s night.
It was a completely different story in the second half. Atletico no more looked in control of the game, as they could not press Barcelona with the same intensity, being one man down. The Catalans, on their part, kept probing the Rojiblancos, who parked the bus.
Atletico defended with all their 10 players inside the box, but this gave Barcelona a lot of space to work with. As you can see in the video below, Alves has ample space to work with, on the right flank. In fact, he has so much space that he comes into the box before actually crossing it in. This use of width is what did Atletico in.
The same is evident in Suarez’s second goal against Atletico, where Alves again exploited the ample space he had on the right flank to send in a cross. Even in this case, Alves’s cross was almost from inside the box, which the Uruguayan striker finished off with a brilliant header.
Player Ratings
FC Barcelona
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (6/10): The German goalkeeper has been pushing for more game time at the Camp Nou, but his performance against Atletico was nowhere near impressive. Going one goal down early on could have affected the game if Torres didn’t get sent off, and one could question ter Stegen’s reflexes for that first goal, as the shot was moving across his body. Apart from that however, he did not have to do much, making just one save in the entire game.
Jordi Alba (7/10): Alba managed to get one assist to his name in this match, and that went a long way in helping Barcelona make their comeback. Other than that, he had an average game, failing to make any tackles, and even getting dispossessed once.
Dani Alves (8.5/10): The Brazilian fullback had a brilliant time out there on the pitch, and was responsible for both of Barcelona’s goals. He managed to use the width on the right flank, and sent in two killer crosses, both of which led to goals. Alves also made five tackles and won two aerial balls, to clock in at eight and a half on our player ratings.
Javier Mascherano (6/10): The Argentine’s inability to read the game was indirectly responsible for Barcelona conceding the first goal, which could have turned things ugly for the Catalans. However, Mascherano will be counting his lucky stars that Suarez scored the two goals to win it for the Catalans. In the entire game, Mascherano (being a centreback) won only one aerial duel and made three tackles, which speaks volumes about his performance.
Gerard Pique (7/10): As mentioned earlier, Pique was forced to leave Torres unmarked in the first half in the buildup to the Atletico goal, but the Spain international had a decent game on the pitch. He even made up for Mascherano’s inability to win aerial battles by winning four himself.
Sergio Busquets (6.5/10): The Spain international was unlike his usual self in the first half. He failed to spot the unmarked Koke and was caught ballwatching in the buildup to the Torres goal. He was even dispossessed twice in the game. However, he made up for it a bit with his performance in the second half, helping out Mascherano and Pique quite a lot in defence, winning three areial battles and making three tackles.
Ivan Rakitic (7/10): Rakitic quietly carried out his business during this game, playing the passes, and trying to create more space for his teammates. In fact, his passing accuracy during the game was 90 per cent, as he helped keep things ticking when the going was tough.
Andres Iniesta (8/10): The veteran midfielder was the focal point of all of Barcelona’s creativity when they tightened the screws on Atletico Madrid in the second half. He was almost playing the role that a ‘point guard’ plays in basketball, standing at the edge of the Atletico box, and spreading the play around. With an incredible 64 passes in the game, Iniesta clocks in at eight, in our ratings.
Neymar Jr (7.5): The Brazilian star also had a bit of a quiet game on the pitch. Of course he was a constant threat to the Atletico defenders when he cut inside with the intent of shooting, but his shots were a bit wayward. Except for the one that hit the bar, 83 per cent of Neymar’s shots were either off target, or blocked.
Lionel Messi (7.5): Messi also had a quiet game by his lofty standards, but played a big part in helping Iniesta and Rakitic in finding space for the wide players (especially Alves). His runs inside from the left flank drew the opposition fullbacks inside the box, giving ample space to Alves to run into. However, the Argentine wizard got dispossessed three times in the match.
Luis Suarez (9/10): Cometh the hour, cometh the man! This was quite literal in Suarez’s case, as he scored the much awaited equaliser just after the hour mark in the game. The Uruguayan was visibly frustrated in the first half, but came back strongly to score the winning brace.
Atletico Madrid
Jan Oblak (6.5/10): Oblak had a decent game in Atletico colours, making thrice as many saves as ter Stegen. Unfortunately, football is a team game and playing with one man less obviously ended up being a huge disadvantage for his side. Both of Suarez’s strikes were from close range, and there was little he could do about them.
Felipe Luis (7/10): The former Chelsea man had a very good game, but was often having to do a double shift in the second half, with Alves bombing down his flank. Luis, in fact, made three tackle and two dribbles in the game.
Juanfran (6.5): Juanfran was instrumental in not providing Alba the width on Atletico’s right flank, and had a decent game out there. However, he was often being asked questions by Neymar, and was even dribbled past once.
Diego Godin (7/10): With six successful tackles, Godin was one of the best players on the pitch for Atletico Madrid. He also had a pass success rate of 80 percent, which was quite precious since Atletico were pegged back for most of the match.
Lucas (6.5/10): The 20-year-old also had a decent time on the pitch against difficult opponents. His cool headed defending got him three successful tackles. Lucas even won an aerial ball. However, playing at the Camp Nou is always a difficult task, and Lucas found that out the hard way.
Gabi (6.5/10): Gabi was perhaps the busiest man out on the pitch for Atletico. His night got even busier with Torres’s sending off, but that did not deter the Spaniard from making five tackles and 32 successful passes in the game.
Saul (7/10): Although he was dispossessed once, Saul was impressive on the night against Barcelona. Apart from running his legs off in the second half, he also won an incredible seven aerial duels, and made three tackles, in an attempt to keep Barcelona at bay. Unfortunately though, the Catalans turned out to be too good.
Koke (7.5/10): With seven dribbles and four tackles, Koke had a busy night. He even managed to get the all-important assist in the game, and that is something that still keeps Atleti in the tie. The Spanish playmaker constantly kept finding space for counter attacks, which gave some much needed respite to the defence.
Carrasco (6/10): It was the Belgian’s comeback match from an injury, and his performance was encouraging. However, better things are expected of Carrasco, as he gets back to fitness. Being dispossessed twice in the same game is not a good sign for a winger.
Antoine Griezmann (6.5/10): The Frenchman had to play up front for most of the match after Torres got sent off, but his average position was nearer to his own penalty area than the opponent’s. Griezmann had little chance to showcase his creativity in the game, as he had to defend most of the time. Three tackles and a pass success rate of 81 per cent makes him look more than a midfielder than a forward.
Fernando Torres (5.5/10): Yes, he scored the goal that keeps Atletico in the tie, but his team had to suffer for his irresponsible tackling in the first half. Both his tackles on Neymar and Busquets deserved yellow cards, and his sending off left his team in the doldrums.
Manager ratings
Luis Enrique (8/10)
While they were getting closed down early on, Luis Enrique did well to change up Barcelona’s tactics to take the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half. The swift switches of play from one flank to the other and then back again did the Rojiblancos in.
Diego Simeone (7.5/10)
Although his side lost the game, Simeone got his tactics bang on in the first half. In spite of having lesser possession, Atletico looked in control as long as they had 11 men on the pitch. However, playing with 10 men at the Camp Nou is not an easy thing, and the Rojiblancos have done well to come out of the game being just one goal behind.
Balanced on a knife-edge
While Barcelona managed to eke out a victory in this match, the tie in general could still go either way, as Atletico have the crucial away goal to their name. A 1-0 win for the Rojiblancos will do it, and that is exactly what they will be looking for in the second leg.
This is a fascinating tie, as both the teams are also fighting it out in La Liga for the top spot in Spain. However, Barcelona have the clear historical advantage over Atletico, who have not been able to beat the Catalans in their last seven matches in all competitions.
The return leg could throw up a few surprises, but Barcelona with their ultra attacking style of play, should make it into the semi finals.
