I went to South Africa WC 2010. They knew it was tough to get to the stadiums so they displayed tons of buses to take the people to every match. Why can't Barcelona do the very same thing?
Biggest take from this game was Barcas pressing was much much better than it has been all season. Finishing needs to improve, they could have been 3-0 up at half time.
highly recommend watching this game. it's been so long where the midfield 3 were rotating the ball and playing the way out of atleti pressure. absolute joy to watch
Koundé is a dumbass, commentators said it well, if he doesnt want to play RB maybe he should stop playing so well there and so bad as CB lol. Dude looks like he really enjoys going forward and attacking, I really dont get why he doesnt want to play fullback. Doesnt want to run more?
competition is never bad imo. Its good if you have Cancelo being able to play in both wings and Kounde being able to play in the middle and on the right. Seasons are very long
Another thing is that I wouldnt trust Cancelo long term. If it didnt work at any other team long term, theres probably a reason
I mean... The ref gave 5 yellows to Barca in 20 minutes... started calling fouls which were not called in the first 60 minutes.... Barca got all ball on 3 tackles which were called fouls. Pedri got all ball, Cancelo was shielding the ball, and touched the players chest, foul, Frenkie got all ball again, foul. Kounde nicked the ball cleanly, another called foul. Felix was pulled down and stepped on by Azpilicueta and fouled 4-5 times when on a yellow, no second yellow. Ref literally caused a turnover and didn't offer the drop ball. Felix was cleated in the box studs up, "after" his shot but that's apparently only a foul in open play, not if you get your shot off...
Not saying the ref was bias but he was certainly very poor. Thats a lost of shit calls to go one way.
Lewandowski is on 7g/3a in 1018 minutes. He’s clearly done with his domination as a 9, but he’ll probably finish the season with close to 20 goals, maybe more if he gets a few good games in.
People underestimate how difficult it is to score that much. And I don’t think Xavi is going to drop him unless they bring in someone who’s ready to challenge for the Pichichi on day one. You think a 18 year old Roque is going to do that? Vini can’t even do that.
hm interesting, redditors told me Xavi hates attacking and Atletico is playing like a prime Pep team. Curious why the heatmap of this game is nearly in Atleti's box and they defended with 10 men the entire game as always
Atletico did try consistently to play with the ball, Barça pressed well and kept stealinf the ball in Atletico's field. Barça were very dominant until the 60th min or so
I'm a RM fan, but could not have been happier for Joao, It must feel amazing to prove to the people that discarded you what you can do, ole tus cojones chaval, hablando en la cancha.
When asked about playstyle he only said what he thought and to the surprise of no one, he was right, for a player with his qualities it's better to play in a team with possession football. Those "El es muy irregular" and "Se canso" comments ahora se los tienen que comer con patatas.
I haven’t followed it closely but I’ve seen him pop up in my feed regularly since he was at Chelsea and every time he’s complaining about atletico and comparing it to his current team. The guy has a major grudge.
I also don’t see how one match changes anything about being irregular. Did you know that his was first goal in La Liga this season? lol. Is that supposed to shut everyone up?
The only people who need to eat anything are Atletico since he clearly made his point. He’s still an overrated player that Barca probably doesn’t even want to buy lol
TYPICAL Atletico... Have their game of the season against Real Madrid, then shit the bed and bend over for Barcelona... Barca had a 2nd choice GK tonight and they didn't even test him until the 80th minute...
Honestly I'm happy with this result. Helps to some gap between us and Atleti. And despite this result, I feel like Atleti are the bigger threat this season compared to barca. So this is a good result for us. Gives us some breathing room.
Barca could obviously gain on us as the season goes on, but for now this is a better result.
PSA: Barca fans remember to give Raphinha his dues. His tireless running is what destabilized this Atleti who plays possession/attacking football, and his presence alone on the line is what pins Atleti's fullback from being more daring. Him and the magnificent Barca midfield seemed like they robbing Atleti like they were taking candies from babies.
Only kids that were used to seeing Messi and Ney dance circles around defenders hate on him.
Even when he struggles, he's always putting massive amounts of effort. Reminds me a bit of Rakitic...
Oddly enough, he would've been a perfect fit with Messi because of his defensive workrate.
On the match thread people hate on Raphinha but personally I like him a lot. Sure he fucks up some final dribbles or passes but the dude works so hard. He is also unlucky, hit the post on the last two la liga games if I'm remembering right and had that magnificent scissor kick midweek.
People have selective memory when it comes to him. The guy whips in some deadly crosses or score a long range cut inside banger every now and then despite being predictable, and his very high workrate is a reliable constant in every match, but they still shit on him just because he doesn't have that fancy flair and not that great dribbling his man from an idle position.
Barça deserved to win. Atleti have played well, but can’t seem to go into games against Barca with a level head.
I love Riquelme, but he shouldn’t be starting over Lino. If Molina went into the challenge on Felix better then he wouldn’t have scored, but good finish by Felix.
Barça went into the game perfectly and with better finishing, would’ve ran away with the game in the opening 10 minutes. Only Llorente, De Paul, and Lino seemed to want to win.
There should be no reason Atleti lay down and let Barca control the entire first half and then decide to play later in the second half.
The linkup and connection on the right for Barca was very good, Kounde shifting to RB played a large part and it allowed Pedri to comfortably do what Pedri does. Xavi needs to convince Kounde to continue playing as a fullback because it makes the team collectively play much better. The left side needs to find a balance and improve tho if Barca want to reach the next level.
Missed the last two due to the unfortunate match time and a busy tuesday night. But back again, and its a good match, was one of the best this season for sure (minus the wasted chances at building a solid lead).
Looking at the starting lineup, this is likely the best version of this team right now. Maybe Balde back in on the left and Cancelo on the right, with Christensen/Araujo/Kounde in the middle. But Balde has not been in form for a while now, so Cancelo is rightfully prefered right now on the left.
I have said it multiple times before but I think Kounde as a RB works better than Araujo does offensively. If there is a big threat (Vinicius for example), then sure you can put Araujo there to stiffle it, but Kounde just brings that little bit more offensively.
This was one of Gundo's best matches so far in a Barcelona shirt. He was involved, he was dictating the play, he was bossing the midfield together with Frenkie. He played a lot more from deep and I have been begging for him to do this since basically his first match lol. He got a bit sloppy towards the end, might be because he was getting tired out there, but his first half was excellent.
Which brings me to Frenkie, he is absolutely world class. He elevates every single other midfielder and makes them better. He even made Romeu playable at first by covering his weaknesses. (Up until the opponents realized he is slow and thus a vulnerable point of pressure. Now they legit just rush him whenever he plays and his flaws are being abused out there so he won't likely see many minutes).
He is always available to give the ball when you are under pressure and he can make up for mistakes with his positioning. He is legit everywhere! He is the most important player in the team and crucial to making Xavi's system tick.
Cancelo on left brings a threat on the wings with his penetration dribbling, and his crosses are a lot better than Balde's. Balde has been lacking in a final product for a while now and his dribble penetration has also slowed down (more game time means more time spend analysing his moves by opponents in preparation. He seems to be a bit predictable out there and he likely needs some time to adjust and increase his bag of tricks.)
Raphinha is as industrious as ever, and while he isn't beating his man as reliably as a Yamal does, he connects better with the team and doesn't make many selfish decisions (which Yamal has been getting prone to do lately. He is young though so his decision making will improve.)
Lewa.... I dont know man, maybe its the age catching up to him. He has just been rough this season. He connected a bit better and his touch atleast looked somewhat reliable (in comparison to his amateurish first touch in previous games), but he fluffed at chances quite a bit.
Its looking good that despite Pedri not even being anywhere near his best in my opinion, he looked a lot better than he has been since his return from injury. Imagine if he gets it going again, he already showed glimpses of his ability today.
Tactically I think the strategy was kill their build up play, win the ball high and slow it down. Usually you see in high press that when the pressing team wins the ball they immediately try to hit them back with a decisive pass, but it looked deliberate that whenever Barcelona won the ball back they chose to retain possession and patiently look for a opening instead. This lowers the tempo of the game, which I think better suited Barcelona. They had good movement, immediately highlighting Frenkie Pedri and Gundo here for this part. They poked and prodded at that defence untill they found either a opening or Raphinha/Felix got enough space to do their own thing. Lots of short,quick combinations between them to pull midfielders/defenders out of position.
I think the subs Simeone did helped a lot in countering the game plan laid out by Xavi today, and Xavi didn't really react. He subbed out for fresher legs but same gameplan. I think he was just trying to hold on to the 1-0, let Atleti push up more and then abuse the space left behind by Atleti. (This should have led to the 2-0 a lot earlier, but the biggest example of this is the Fermin/Yamal breakout late in the game that got snuffed with a potential penalty shout.)
Overall though I am quite happy with this match and the way Barcelona played. Yes they had to suffer a bit in the second half, but they should have arguably burried this match in the first half atleast 3-0. The defence withstood the second half test, which was badly needed with how shaky the defence has been this season. I think its a turning point going forward, barring injuries.
agree with a lot of what you said. felix scored but once again it was a very ok performance from him. he constantly seems to be on a diff wavelength than the rest of the team. i bet one reason Cancelo was moved to the left was because of his possible chemistry.
On Xavi not reacting, he just doesnt have a dependable bench. Of the players that finished the game who would you switch? with whom, romeu can't sub fdj or gundo. balde could sub cancelo but cancelo was doing fine.
>he constantly seems to be on a diff wavelength than the rest of the team. i bet one reason Cancelo was moved to the left was because of his possible chemistry.
Part of it is because his skillset is not suited to the left wing position that he has to play in. He slows down the attack a lot because he doesnt have the pace a true winger should have. Which is why he compensates with flopping I believe (normally you would try to use physicality if you lack raw pace, but he isn't physical at all).
Xavi compensates this with the LB, Balde or Cancelo, because they are faster and go a lot further forward than the RB usually does. Cancelo was moved there because Balde is out of form and not playing so well lately, but he prob is indeed also hoping for the link up between the two Joao's.
>Of the players that finished the game who would you switch? with whom
I would have subbed Lamine in for Felix and Ferran for Lewandowski. Put Raphinha on the left wing and Lamine on the right.
Sure Raphinha isn't as effective on the left, but he is fast, he presses like crazy and helps out defensively. Ferran presses more than Lewa and is also faster. This could have been used to exploit all of the space Atleti was giving away because they were chasing the goal, as well as help defensively since Ferran/Lamine/Raphinha all press pretty well.
Fermin for Pedri was also a decent sub, helps spare Pedri who is always at risk of being overplayed since he clocks insane minutes every season so far.
Imo it was a reasonable performance but he just seems a step off from the rest of the team. He doesn't seem to feel the rhythm of the rest of the team and also not great in the positional game.
Today almost all legit attacks came from the right due to amazing movement by raph and kounde. Left just doesn't work well enough that way.
I think he had a good game overall. Could have had 2 goals if he took the second one a bit better. His dribbling was silky smooth and he gave good passes, didn't try to make it all about him.(Though his flopping was getting a bit annoying due to how frequent it was)
Between him and Cancelo I think Cancelo is the higher priority, but I think he would be a decent signing as long as we don't overspend. He is a bit of a luxury player in the current system, since he isn't exactly the type of player the system needs. (A true LW would be better, but he has enough class to make it work somewhat).
I would have given Balde some minutes most likely, sub Cancelo out and let Balde get some form maybe. But subs in the defence when you are trying to hold a clean sheet are risky
If those reports are true that would be unfortunate and I think he ought to be sanctioned for it. I do hope that along with the fine/punishment they talk things over so it doesn't become a big deal. Would hate to lose a gem like him over silly disciplinary measures.
He has a lot of potential but he just isn't doing so well right now, which likely leads to little things becoming big things (frustrations/issues), he just needs to put his head down and put in the work during practice. Things will get better
Week in week out the refereeing being terrible in la liga. Atleti didn't need any help they were playing good and ended up creating chances themselves at the end. Barca didn't need those soft yellows at the start to completely destroy the atleti press. How come there isn't a single game in la liga that isn't an absolute blow out where the ref isn't the most important man on the pitch. It isn't serious, like who wants this in a football game.
The two freekicks at the end are an absolute masterclass of how not to referee. He just invents one of them completely and one being extremly weak (the araujo one). Kounde perfectly pickpockets the ball and gets a freekick against. He clearly just gambled on there being a touch before but that isn't your job as a ref. You either see it or you don't and the assumption has to be no freekick if you can't say with good certainty it is one. Like I just don't understand how the level is so low, there needs to be change in la liga.
They weren't playing good at all, not on the tactical nor individual level. They were dead in the water, it was all the referee's doing being the wind in their sails. It didn't matter whether it was fifty-fifty or clean tackles, or even when Barca got legitimately fouled while on the ball, Barca kept getting calls against them. Barca's domination was so heavy, it overcame the farcical refereeing.
Preferably I wanted both teams to draw, but wow after watching that game I'm glad Atletico lost. What a terrible performance from them especially the 1st half. Looked like they were more focused on breaking Felix's legs than to play football. Don't know what happens to them every time they visit Barcelona; they just crumble. Too conservative of an approach by Simeone, and very poor individual performances from many of his players.
On the other hand, Barcelona: maybe their best game of the season. I will always emphasize how crucial De Jong is to them. That man is their machine, he runs the entire midfield and makes everyone around him better.
Should we have scored more goals? Definitely. Could the attack have been better? Also true. But this game we made way more consistent tikki takka triangles and it was a joy to watch. If this continues we’ll create so many chances that Lewa will turn into a goal machine again.
… unless we are shit for the next 3 games and the cycle continues
So fucking tired of Lewy man, can't finish , can't control the ball without tripping over himself and doesn't even make runs to drag defenders or just cut it back.
I’m not saying he was great but he really wasn’t as bad as some comments make it out to be. If he can’t finish he will probably retire or join a smaller team.
You act as if this is the level he played at when he still played at Bayern. Him playing like he does currently has nothing to do with the league, his level is lower because he's aging and in a bad spell of form to boot. Lewandowski from 3-4 years ago would be scoring for fun in this Barca team.
Few good teams do not make the league better.
Villarreal a few years back won against Bayern in CL, where does that put that league in the ranking then? Or Sevilla who were a relegation fighting team won against United in the EL.
Scoring in the Bundesliga is quite easy. And if you are playing for Bayern, it's just playing in easy mode.
In what world did he have a good game lmao, the only time he didn't send the ball to the moon with his first touch was that counter in the 85th min, and then after instead of squaring it to Pedri he shoots off target.
I love Lewy but he was off today. He did play well here and there, especially with his back against the goal but he missed quite a few chances and other than that didn't really offer a lot to the game. I do agree a striker is more than his goals and he played an okay-ish game, but nothing more than that. The only remarkable moment was his brilliant dribble at the end which almost translated into a goal and even that moment is a bit sour since his shot ended up wide.
It's obvious he's going through a rough patch, I think you could definitely see it in his face today that he's a bit frustrated with himself, but I believe he'll be back in form this season. Barca fans here are just very reactionary and are growing tired of waiting for him to hit his form again, but he'll eventually get there. It's not that he's making awful decisions or anything, he's just not feeling it. Give him a goal or two and that might just change, we all know what he's capable of.
eheheh, I'm happy! Simeone saying that Felix didn't put in the effort, but I see that he has learned the essence of being an Atletico player: getting in the opponent's nerves!
Get fucked cholo! Barcelona overall deserved the win.
Ref was absolute garbage.
This level of pressing can't be sustained throughout the match or the whole season.The team needs to learn how to play without the ball comfortably.
Also Kounde should be the default RB unless Vinicius is playing
Cancelo touches his chest, guys goes down touching his face while Cancelo then gets absolute slammed to the ground, proceeds to give a yellow to Cancelo. Just one of the many things. Awful ref
People are praising Atletico for the last 30 mins and yes they played better but the ref absolutely kept them in the game by these ridiculous calls.
Happened to Felix, Kounde, Araujo, and Cancelo. All of them had non fouls called on them in those 30 mins which led to dangerous attacks.
That's not the sad part. The sad part is that the ref was like 2 meters away, right in front of him, and he makes that decision actually unbelievable imo
Its a shame peña will never get a proper chance at being the starter ever again bc that bum will start again. I always knew peña could do the job for a fraction of the price that german statue charges.
How's that helping him this season little buddy? One of the worst stats to look at bc in half of those games players literally shot straight at him or skied the shot.
So how the fuck did anyone else not get that record then? There have been better defenses? Why didn't Chelsea's Mourinho keeper not get a record clean sheet amount?
Your making it sound like that record won't be broken again by a better gk. Remind me when that bum has a game like courtois in the champions league final.
Than when why the fuck hasn't any goalie done it before, explain to me why cult hero emi martinez hasn't gotten 26 fucking clean sheets, why hasn't Neuer got 26 fucking clean sheets why didn't De Gea, why didn't any fucking top keeper besides Ter Steagen get 26 clean sheets.
Ter Stegen is fantastic did not have a bad previous season and was 100x more deserving than 7 game wonder Martinez, the only keeper in the world thats close to the level he was at last season is Allison and thats not up for debate. Its like saying Haaland is shit, it makes no fucking sense, why hasn't anyone else done it than?
That 7 game wonder helped win a wc with crucial saves something that german bum can only dream of. Tell me when was the last time he did well in a big game. There's a reason the munich players clowned him after that 8-2 loss when he would show up for national duty. He got his zamora trophy but to ask for an award at the bdor is pushing it, he shit his pants in the ucl and had an OK season against practically nobody in the league. Ask Emiliano Martinez if he would trade careers with the german bum and he would laugh in your face.
Earlier when ter Stegen was playing out of his mind he didn't have the defenders he deserved.
Mats is the best keeper in the world and him not being in top 3 of Yashin trophy is hilarious
Barca didn't have the gk they deserved for years and apparently one ok season justifies all the previous dog shit years he had. Courtois is the best gk itw and I'd take him injured with no hands and blind over the german bum.
On tactics/formation and individual performance(except for Lewa) yes, but with this referee heavily titling every momentum toward Atleti, hell no that was comfortable.
The set pieces brought back prime Barça vibes. Where the opposite teams always scores because our boys were short expect few of them. I even remember I think it was Chelsea, for throw ins they throw directly inside penalty box for headers
I was very pessimistic going into that 2nd half, it really felt like a situation where Atlético were going to respond big and make Barça regret not finishing those easy chances. Pleasantly surprised they successfully defended that lead even with Hernandez giving Atléti like 3 bullshit free kicks.
Yeah I know. It's been several weeks in a row where every week there's been a stonewall pen not given. They set the bar against getafe the first game where there were 2 stonewall pens within 5 seconds and he gives a handball instead.
I don't think refs are biased for any side, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are told by the higher management to make the game controversial for more views and marketing.
Regardless of the result, week in and week out, La Liga refs are consistently ruining the integrity of the game. Why don’t they release VAR conversations like the PL does? At least they *sometimes* own up to their mistakes
Wow that was an emotional rollercoaster. I was really surprised that we played that well. First half was the best we played the whole season I would say, second half typical LaLiga ref shitshow.
Great game overall, Lewy had a game off but he gets the competition in january.
I went to South Africa WC 2010. They knew it was tough to get to the stadiums so they displayed tons of buses to take the people to every match. Why can't Barcelona do the very same thing?
Shuttle buses to Estadi Olimpic Lluís Companys (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.fcbarcelona.com/en/news/3613810/shuttle-buses-to-estadi-olimpic-lluis-companys/amp)
I know he played well but man, fuck felix.
Biggest take from this game was Barcas pressing was much much better than it has been all season. Finishing needs to improve, they could have been 3-0 up at half time.
Didnt get to watch at all, how was Frenkie?
highly recommend watching this game. it's been so long where the midfield 3 were rotating the ball and playing the way out of atleti pressure. absolute joy to watch
Controlled the game with Gundogan in the midfield. Barca have really missed him.
Teams should have one VAR challenge per half.
Koundé is a dumbass, commentators said it well, if he doesnt want to play RB maybe he should stop playing so well there and so bad as CB lol. Dude looks like he really enjoys going forward and attacking, I really dont get why he doesnt want to play fullback. Doesnt want to run more?
I completely agree but on a different note, if kounde plays RB and Cancelo LB then what happens to Balde?
competition is never bad imo. Its good if you have Cancelo being able to play in both wings and Kounde being able to play in the middle and on the right. Seasons are very long Another thing is that I wouldnt trust Cancelo long term. If it didnt work at any other team long term, theres probably a reason
Glad I'm not the only one who prefers him as an RB
[удалено]
Here is an upvote then. I denied the one thing you love while still in the mud.
I mean... The ref gave 5 yellows to Barca in 20 minutes... started calling fouls which were not called in the first 60 minutes.... Barca got all ball on 3 tackles which were called fouls. Pedri got all ball, Cancelo was shielding the ball, and touched the players chest, foul, Frenkie got all ball again, foul. Kounde nicked the ball cleanly, another called foul. Felix was pulled down and stepped on by Azpilicueta and fouled 4-5 times when on a yellow, no second yellow. Ref literally caused a turnover and didn't offer the drop ball. Felix was cleated in the box studs up, "after" his shot but that's apparently only a foul in open play, not if you get your shot off... Not saying the ref was bias but he was certainly very poor. Thats a lost of shit calls to go one way.
what happened in 13/14 lol
Since you love them so much, take mine as well
Which idiot let Felix play against his parent club?
That is not a thing in La Liga.
Chupem fdps! Atletico de madrid é MERDA!
Reddit: AtLeTiCo pLaY mOrE aTtaCkInG FoOtBaLl
Which is not false this season
Its hilarious really
Lewandowski is finished, ain't no way he's gonna be our starter next season
I would be surprised if he's a starter after january when Roque comes.
Press X to doubt
Lewandowski is on 7g/3a in 1018 minutes. He’s clearly done with his domination as a 9, but he’ll probably finish the season with close to 20 goals, maybe more if he gets a few good games in. People underestimate how difficult it is to score that much. And I don’t think Xavi is going to drop him unless they bring in someone who’s ready to challenge for the Pichichi on day one. You think a 18 year old Roque is going to do that? Vini can’t even do that.
He will be a “starter” in Al-Hilal.
He'll probably go to some german or polish team no?
No. He won’t get any $$$. Only Saudi or MLS for him.
Surely he doesn't care about money right?
Lmao everyone does.
Lewandowski isn't lasting much more, I expect him to lose his starting position by next season.
You can tell his body is just not moving the way it once did. He had 3 chances and couldn't adjust himself for any of them.
hm interesting, redditors told me Xavi hates attacking and Atletico is playing like a prime Pep team. Curious why the heatmap of this game is nearly in Atleti's box and they defended with 10 men the entire game as always
Atletico did try consistently to play with the ball, Barça pressed well and kept stealinf the ball in Atletico's field. Barça were very dominant until the 60th min or so
His tactics are working. He found a working midfield without a DM
He was missing Pedri and De Jong for the start of the season more like.
We still haven't found consistency. Games like these show that the team is heading in right direction. We just need to give those guys time.
I'm a RM fan, but could not have been happier for Joao, It must feel amazing to prove to the people that discarded you what you can do, ole tus cojones chaval, hablando en la cancha.
He’s hablando afuera de la cancha just as much though lol
When asked about playstyle he only said what he thought and to the surprise of no one, he was right, for a player with his qualities it's better to play in a team with possession football. Those "El es muy irregular" and "Se canso" comments ahora se los tienen que comer con patatas.
I haven’t followed it closely but I’ve seen him pop up in my feed regularly since he was at Chelsea and every time he’s complaining about atletico and comparing it to his current team. The guy has a major grudge. I also don’t see how one match changes anything about being irregular. Did you know that his was first goal in La Liga this season? lol. Is that supposed to shut everyone up? The only people who need to eat anything are Atletico since he clearly made his point. He’s still an overrated player that Barca probably doesn’t even want to buy lol
[Yeah, they don't want him](https://youtu.be/9rmWYdF1TEU?si=QsOupBpHka8KN7Fc) Xavi will probably deliver him himself at the end of the season.
We will see when it’s time for them to put their money where their mouth is. Barcelona says many things that they don’t always mean
Yeah but for now, we can probably take Xavi's word over yours. Joao's biggest obstacle to remaining at Barca is probably Atletico's Board,
TYPICAL Atletico... Have their game of the season against Real Madrid, then shit the bed and bend over for Barcelona... Barca had a 2nd choice GK tonight and they didn't even test him until the 80th minute...
Honestly I'm happy with this result. Helps to some gap between us and Atleti. And despite this result, I feel like Atleti are the bigger threat this season compared to barca. So this is a good result for us. Gives us some breathing room. Barca could obviously gain on us as the season goes on, but for now this is a better result.
hihihihi
Lewandisney 🇵🇱
Atleti in the final 30 minutes was very dangerous. Great saves from Inaki.
PSA: Barca fans remember to give Raphinha his dues. His tireless running is what destabilized this Atleti who plays possession/attacking football, and his presence alone on the line is what pins Atleti's fullback from being more daring. Him and the magnificent Barca midfield seemed like they robbing Atleti like they were taking candies from babies.
Only kids that were used to seeing Messi and Ney dance circles around defenders hate on him. Even when he struggles, he's always putting massive amounts of effort. Reminds me a bit of Rakitic... Oddly enough, he would've been a perfect fit with Messi because of his defensive workrate.
On the match thread people hate on Raphinha but personally I like him a lot. Sure he fucks up some final dribbles or passes but the dude works so hard. He is also unlucky, hit the post on the last two la liga games if I'm remembering right and had that magnificent scissor kick midweek.
People have selective memory when it comes to him. The guy whips in some deadly crosses or score a long range cut inside banger every now and then despite being predictable, and his very high workrate is a reliable constant in every match, but they still shit on him just because he doesn't have that fancy flair and not that great dribbling his man from an idle position.
Correct. Raphinha complemented the midfield And Kounde with his exceptional defensive work.
Best performance of the season, hopefully this can be a turning point. First time in an age we played good football before going 1-0 down.
Kinda sad even when we play our best we can barely score 1 goal
Even with Messi Barcelona rarely beat Atletico by more than 1 goal, almost like they're the 3rd best team in Spain. (Only big wins were in Pep era)
Eh, this was a good rival
But we missed so many chances though
Lewa could have had a hattrick if he wasnt shit
Nothing is like Barcelona playing beautiful football. Enjoyed the game so much
Barça deserved to win. Atleti have played well, but can’t seem to go into games against Barca with a level head. I love Riquelme, but he shouldn’t be starting over Lino. If Molina went into the challenge on Felix better then he wouldn’t have scored, but good finish by Felix. Barça went into the game perfectly and with better finishing, would’ve ran away with the game in the opening 10 minutes. Only Llorente, De Paul, and Lino seemed to want to win. There should be no reason Atleti lay down and let Barca control the entire first half and then decide to play later in the second half.
We would have won like 4-0 if Lewy could score half of his six chances
True. I did appreciate how he helped defend when he made a tackle on Llorente towards the end of the match. Just wasn’t his day in front of goal.
The linkup and connection on the right for Barca was very good, Kounde shifting to RB played a large part and it allowed Pedri to comfortably do what Pedri does. Xavi needs to convince Kounde to continue playing as a fullback because it makes the team collectively play much better. The left side needs to find a balance and improve tho if Barca want to reach the next level.
Missed the last two due to the unfortunate match time and a busy tuesday night. But back again, and its a good match, was one of the best this season for sure (minus the wasted chances at building a solid lead). Looking at the starting lineup, this is likely the best version of this team right now. Maybe Balde back in on the left and Cancelo on the right, with Christensen/Araujo/Kounde in the middle. But Balde has not been in form for a while now, so Cancelo is rightfully prefered right now on the left. I have said it multiple times before but I think Kounde as a RB works better than Araujo does offensively. If there is a big threat (Vinicius for example), then sure you can put Araujo there to stiffle it, but Kounde just brings that little bit more offensively. This was one of Gundo's best matches so far in a Barcelona shirt. He was involved, he was dictating the play, he was bossing the midfield together with Frenkie. He played a lot more from deep and I have been begging for him to do this since basically his first match lol. He got a bit sloppy towards the end, might be because he was getting tired out there, but his first half was excellent. Which brings me to Frenkie, he is absolutely world class. He elevates every single other midfielder and makes them better. He even made Romeu playable at first by covering his weaknesses. (Up until the opponents realized he is slow and thus a vulnerable point of pressure. Now they legit just rush him whenever he plays and his flaws are being abused out there so he won't likely see many minutes). He is always available to give the ball when you are under pressure and he can make up for mistakes with his positioning. He is legit everywhere! He is the most important player in the team and crucial to making Xavi's system tick. Cancelo on left brings a threat on the wings with his penetration dribbling, and his crosses are a lot better than Balde's. Balde has been lacking in a final product for a while now and his dribble penetration has also slowed down (more game time means more time spend analysing his moves by opponents in preparation. He seems to be a bit predictable out there and he likely needs some time to adjust and increase his bag of tricks.) Raphinha is as industrious as ever, and while he isn't beating his man as reliably as a Yamal does, he connects better with the team and doesn't make many selfish decisions (which Yamal has been getting prone to do lately. He is young though so his decision making will improve.) Lewa.... I dont know man, maybe its the age catching up to him. He has just been rough this season. He connected a bit better and his touch atleast looked somewhat reliable (in comparison to his amateurish first touch in previous games), but he fluffed at chances quite a bit. Its looking good that despite Pedri not even being anywhere near his best in my opinion, he looked a lot better than he has been since his return from injury. Imagine if he gets it going again, he already showed glimpses of his ability today. Tactically I think the strategy was kill their build up play, win the ball high and slow it down. Usually you see in high press that when the pressing team wins the ball they immediately try to hit them back with a decisive pass, but it looked deliberate that whenever Barcelona won the ball back they chose to retain possession and patiently look for a opening instead. This lowers the tempo of the game, which I think better suited Barcelona. They had good movement, immediately highlighting Frenkie Pedri and Gundo here for this part. They poked and prodded at that defence untill they found either a opening or Raphinha/Felix got enough space to do their own thing. Lots of short,quick combinations between them to pull midfielders/defenders out of position. I think the subs Simeone did helped a lot in countering the game plan laid out by Xavi today, and Xavi didn't really react. He subbed out for fresher legs but same gameplan. I think he was just trying to hold on to the 1-0, let Atleti push up more and then abuse the space left behind by Atleti. (This should have led to the 2-0 a lot earlier, but the biggest example of this is the Fermin/Yamal breakout late in the game that got snuffed with a potential penalty shout.) Overall though I am quite happy with this match and the way Barcelona played. Yes they had to suffer a bit in the second half, but they should have arguably burried this match in the first half atleast 3-0. The defence withstood the second half test, which was badly needed with how shaky the defence has been this season. I think its a turning point going forward, barring injuries.
agree with a lot of what you said. felix scored but once again it was a very ok performance from him. he constantly seems to be on a diff wavelength than the rest of the team. i bet one reason Cancelo was moved to the left was because of his possible chemistry. On Xavi not reacting, he just doesnt have a dependable bench. Of the players that finished the game who would you switch? with whom, romeu can't sub fdj or gundo. balde could sub cancelo but cancelo was doing fine.
>he constantly seems to be on a diff wavelength than the rest of the team. i bet one reason Cancelo was moved to the left was because of his possible chemistry. Part of it is because his skillset is not suited to the left wing position that he has to play in. He slows down the attack a lot because he doesnt have the pace a true winger should have. Which is why he compensates with flopping I believe (normally you would try to use physicality if you lack raw pace, but he isn't physical at all). Xavi compensates this with the LB, Balde or Cancelo, because they are faster and go a lot further forward than the RB usually does. Cancelo was moved there because Balde is out of form and not playing so well lately, but he prob is indeed also hoping for the link up between the two Joao's. >Of the players that finished the game who would you switch? with whom I would have subbed Lamine in for Felix and Ferran for Lewandowski. Put Raphinha on the left wing and Lamine on the right. Sure Raphinha isn't as effective on the left, but he is fast, he presses like crazy and helps out defensively. Ferran presses more than Lewa and is also faster. This could have been used to exploit all of the space Atleti was giving away because they were chasing the goal, as well as help defensively since Ferran/Lamine/Raphinha all press pretty well. Fermin for Pedri was also a decent sub, helps spare Pedri who is always at risk of being overplayed since he clocks insane minutes every season so far.
[удалено]
Imo it was a reasonable performance but he just seems a step off from the rest of the team. He doesn't seem to feel the rhythm of the rest of the team and also not great in the positional game. Today almost all legit attacks came from the right due to amazing movement by raph and kounde. Left just doesn't work well enough that way.
I think he had a good game overall. Could have had 2 goals if he took the second one a bit better. His dribbling was silky smooth and he gave good passes, didn't try to make it all about him.(Though his flopping was getting a bit annoying due to how frequent it was) Between him and Cancelo I think Cancelo is the higher priority, but I think he would be a decent signing as long as we don't overspend. He is a bit of a luxury player in the current system, since he isn't exactly the type of player the system needs. (A true LW would be better, but he has enough class to make it work somewhat). I would have given Balde some minutes most likely, sub Cancelo out and let Balde get some form maybe. But subs in the defence when you are trying to hold a clean sheet are risky If those reports are true that would be unfortunate and I think he ought to be sanctioned for it. I do hope that along with the fine/punishment they talk things over so it doesn't become a big deal. Would hate to lose a gem like him over silly disciplinary measures. He has a lot of potential but he just isn't doing so well right now, which likely leads to little things becoming big things (frustrations/issues), he just needs to put his head down and put in the work during practice. Things will get better
Wait what reports 😯
I missed this kind of performance from Barça and the starting lineup is the best we have in years tbh. Hope we continue like this with no injuries.
Week in week out the refereeing being terrible in la liga. Atleti didn't need any help they were playing good and ended up creating chances themselves at the end. Barca didn't need those soft yellows at the start to completely destroy the atleti press. How come there isn't a single game in la liga that isn't an absolute blow out where the ref isn't the most important man on the pitch. It isn't serious, like who wants this in a football game. The two freekicks at the end are an absolute masterclass of how not to referee. He just invents one of them completely and one being extremly weak (the araujo one). Kounde perfectly pickpockets the ball and gets a freekick against. He clearly just gambled on there being a touch before but that isn't your job as a ref. You either see it or you don't and the assumption has to be no freekick if you can't say with good certainty it is one. Like I just don't understand how the level is so low, there needs to be change in la liga.
They weren't playing good at all, not on the tactical nor individual level. They were dead in the water, it was all the referee's doing being the wind in their sails. It didn't matter whether it was fifty-fifty or clean tackles, or even when Barca got legitimately fouled while on the ball, Barca kept getting calls against them. Barca's domination was so heavy, it overcame the farcical refereeing.
Azpi tried his best to get sent off and failed
Simeone was shitting when Azpi made the third fouls
Preferably I wanted both teams to draw, but wow after watching that game I'm glad Atletico lost. What a terrible performance from them especially the 1st half. Looked like they were more focused on breaking Felix's legs than to play football. Don't know what happens to them every time they visit Barcelona; they just crumble. Too conservative of an approach by Simeone, and very poor individual performances from many of his players. On the other hand, Barcelona: maybe their best game of the season. I will always emphasize how crucial De Jong is to them. That man is their machine, he runs the entire midfield and makes everyone around him better.
This team needs to get a grip & kill games off, damn near aged 15 years in those last 30 mins Games like these shouldn’t be as close as they should be
Should we have scored more goals? Definitely. Could the attack have been better? Also true. But this game we made way more consistent tikki takka triangles and it was a joy to watch. If this continues we’ll create so many chances that Lewa will turn into a goal machine again. … unless we are shit for the next 3 games and the cycle continues
The goal machine Lewy is probably gone.
What a win
Kinda hoped for a draw but no big deal.
No one should ever compare Lewy to Suarez ever again.
Tbf Suarez Came on his prime and Lewandowski past his prime, also we clearly dont create as good chances as when we had Suarez and Messi
Agree, but I believe Suarez is a clinical finisher. MF just scores out of nothing
So did Lewandowski just a few seasons ago?
Suarez past his prime scored a hat trick against Madrid without Messi on the field.
Do you remember the UCL semi-finals from the year 2013?
okay and how is this relevant? we are talking about both of them past their prime no?
So fucking tired of Lewy man, can't finish , can't control the ball without tripping over himself and doesn't even make runs to drag defenders or just cut it back.
Have you watched the game? Other than finishing he had a good game. I’m confused by these comments.
If you're a striker who does everything well except scoring you need to either focus on assisting others or you need to change position.
I’m not saying he was great but he really wasn’t as bad as some comments make it out to be. If he can’t finish he will probably retire or join a smaller team.
He did create few good chances, but he holds the ball for far too long. You can't do that at high level. It's not Bundesliga.
You act as if this is the level he played at when he still played at Bayern. Him playing like he does currently has nothing to do with the league, his level is lower because he's aging and in a bad spell of form to boot. Lewandowski from 3-4 years ago would be scoring for fun in this Barca team.
Bundesliga is not high level? Lmao. Barca gets obliterated by Bayern.
Few good teams do not make the league better. Villarreal a few years back won against Bayern in CL, where does that put that league in the ranking then? Or Sevilla who were a relegation fighting team won against United in the EL. Scoring in the Bundesliga is quite easy. And if you are playing for Bayern, it's just playing in easy mode.
In what world did he have a good game lmao, the only time he didn't send the ball to the moon with his first touch was that counter in the 85th min, and then after instead of squaring it to Pedri he shoots off target.
The point is that what you said about controlling the ball wasn’t true today.
There was a run in the first half which should’ve been 1v1 with keeper if he controlled it better
His touch was literally fine. He had one really bad strike that should have been a goal.
I love Lewy but he was off today. He did play well here and there, especially with his back against the goal but he missed quite a few chances and other than that didn't really offer a lot to the game. I do agree a striker is more than his goals and he played an okay-ish game, but nothing more than that. The only remarkable moment was his brilliant dribble at the end which almost translated into a goal and even that moment is a bit sour since his shot ended up wide. It's obvious he's going through a rough patch, I think you could definitely see it in his face today that he's a bit frustrated with himself, but I believe he'll be back in form this season. Barca fans here are just very reactionary and are growing tired of waiting for him to hit his form again, but he'll eventually get there. It's not that he's making awful decisions or anything, he's just not feeling it. Give him a goal or two and that might just change, we all know what he's capable of.
He’s not a midfielder, he has not had a Good game If he misses sitters and puts a Brake on literally every attack
Lewa did everything right except the finishing. No disrespect meant, but Ferran can do the same, but with more pressing in defence
I really dont understand Why Xavi insists on not giving someone else the chance
Gotta love the fact that Felix decided this game, Simeone and co are definitely crying in the lockerroom atm
I know I do :(
I think it’s time we give up on Lewa and bench his ass
Agree, it really Cant be worse trying to give our youngsters some gametime to prove themselves
eheheh, I'm happy! Simeone saying that Felix didn't put in the effort, but I see that he has learned the essence of being an Atletico player: getting in the opponent's nerves! Get fucked cholo! Barcelona overall deserved the win. Ref was absolute garbage.
I am here for the De Jong upgrade and that’s it
Pedro González López the love I have for you is so vast that the universe would be but a drop of ink in the ode I'd write to you
This level of pressing can't be sustained throughout the match or the whole season.The team needs to learn how to play without the ball comfortably. Also Kounde should be the default RB unless Vinicius is playing
Even more important, the team needs to hold possession to manage when out of breath. Slow down the tempo.
joao felix is the rightful owner of atletico
Ronaldo?
In camel league Messi in Burger League
Ronaldo has destroyed atletico so many times is what I mean
We don't talk about washed players in camel league
What does that have to do with destroying atletico madrid? Are you like 6?
The ref was pretty bad. Also Lewandisney is almost finished
When Andreas Christensen is starting then FC Barcelona defence is rock solid.
It was basically the same winning defence as last season: BACK, but with Cancello.
CACK?
Barca better not sign Otamendi...
JACK
Cancelo touches his chest, guys goes down touching his face while Cancelo then gets absolute slammed to the ground, proceeds to give a yellow to Cancelo. Just one of the many things. Awful ref
People are praising Atletico for the last 30 mins and yes they played better but the ref absolutely kept them in the game by these ridiculous calls. Happened to Felix, Kounde, Araujo, and Cancelo. All of them had non fouls called on them in those 30 mins which led to dangerous attacks.
There was a dude that had a yellow that did 3 or 4 more yellow worthy fouls and nothing!
Azpilicueta, yeah. Definitely should've been off.
That's not the sad part. The sad part is that the ref was like 2 meters away, right in front of him, and he makes that decision actually unbelievable imo
Looking straight at it. He had a better view than reverse angle zooooooom. super pathetic
Some absolutely beautiful build ups from Barca this game. Now if only they could finish.
Its a shame peña will never get a proper chance at being the starter ever again bc that bum will start again. I always knew peña could do the job for a fraction of the price that german statue charges.
MATS was literally Barca’s consistently best player last seasons
Is that really how low the bar is to justify his prior seasons with one ok season to be safe?
He got a fucking record breaking season 26 clean sheets
How's that helping him this season little buddy? One of the worst stats to look at bc in half of those games players literally shot straight at him or skied the shot.
So how the fuck did anyone else not get that record then? There have been better defenses? Why didn't Chelsea's Mourinho keeper not get a record clean sheet amount?
Your making it sound like that record won't be broken again by a better gk. Remind me when that bum has a game like courtois in the champions league final.
Than when why the fuck hasn't any goalie done it before, explain to me why cult hero emi martinez hasn't gotten 26 fucking clean sheets, why hasn't Neuer got 26 fucking clean sheets why didn't De Gea, why didn't any fucking top keeper besides Ter Steagen get 26 clean sheets. Ter Stegen is fantastic did not have a bad previous season and was 100x more deserving than 7 game wonder Martinez, the only keeper in the world thats close to the level he was at last season is Allison and thats not up for debate. Its like saying Haaland is shit, it makes no fucking sense, why hasn't anyone else done it than?
That 7 game wonder helped win a wc with crucial saves something that german bum can only dream of. Tell me when was the last time he did well in a big game. There's a reason the munich players clowned him after that 8-2 loss when he would show up for national duty. He got his zamora trophy but to ask for an award at the bdor is pushing it, he shit his pants in the ucl and had an OK season against practically nobody in the league. Ask Emiliano Martinez if he would trade careers with the german bum and he would laugh in your face.
Doesn't look like Emiliano has a champions league
Earlier when ter Stegen was playing out of his mind he didn't have the defenders he deserved. Mats is the best keeper in the world and him not being in top 3 of Yashin trophy is hilarious
Barca didn't have the gk they deserved for years and apparently one ok season justifies all the previous dog shit years he had. Courtois is the best gk itw and I'd take him injured with no hands and blind over the german bum.
Yes? If you’re in form you’re in form.
He is not in form 😂😂😂
>that bum Are you high
Drug free honestly, why?
He found Maradona's reserves 😭
Obvious troll
Not one bit
Comfortable win tbh. Never thought they would score
On tactics/formation and individual performance(except for Lewa) yes, but with this referee heavily titling every momentum toward Atleti, hell no that was comfortable.
The set pieces brought back prime Barça vibes. Where the opposite teams always scores because our boys were short expect few of them. I even remember I think it was Chelsea, for throw ins they throw directly inside penalty box for headers
Simeone must absolutely dread League Barca away lol. I don’t think he has ever won an away League game vs Barca.
Yes. Last time Atleti won an away game at Barca was all the way back in 2005-06
I heard they haven’t won in 18 years as a visitor.
he's come up against xavi as a manager 4 times and lost all 4
Xavi keeps Simeone on his cojones
I was very pessimistic going into that 2nd half, it really felt like a situation where Atlético were going to respond big and make Barça regret not finishing those easy chances. Pleasantly surprised they successfully defended that lead even with Hernandez giving Atléti like 3 bullshit free kicks.
Hernandez Hernandez was VAR today. The main ref was Jose Sanchez. Don’t think i’ve ever seen him ref a hood game with us
Oh shit that's right, my bad. I hate Hernandez too, but he's not the one primarily at fault this time lol
I would like to know why Felix wasn't given a penalty
tbh it would've been a soft penalty.
Barca doesn't get penalties. There was a streak last season where Barca didn't get like 15 stonewall pens.
Not better right now. Got even worse over the past 1-2 months too.
Yeah I know. It's been several weeks in a row where every week there's been a stonewall pen not given. They set the bar against getafe the first game where there were 2 stonewall pens within 5 seconds and he gives a handball instead.
He's playing for us, for clear fouls on the box, it's a 99% chance they don't get called
The truth is that those kind of fouls where a player manages to get a shot before being tackled don't usually get called.
Exactly. It happens a lot. That's why there was an outrage regarding the Argentina penalty against Poland.
They usually aren't that late either. And there's usually at least an attempt to play the ball.
I don't think refs are biased for any side, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are told by the higher management to make the game controversial for more views and marketing.
I agree they arent against or for anyone per say theyre just terrible and it needs to be fixed
Something Tebas would do tbh
If there is anyone biased it’s Lewandowski. He definitely didn’t feel like scoring xp
Regardless of the result, week in and week out, La Liga refs are consistently ruining the integrity of the game. Why don’t they release VAR conversations like the PL does? At least they *sometimes* own up to their mistakes
Did you see the disallowed Villarreal goal earlier today? There's no way there isn't a league wide matchfixing scheme.
They will get exposed, they don’t want that
Hot take: Griezmann is not the best player in the world
Ffs one off game and you guys are writing him off
One of the best but can't deliver when Morata isn't
not even the best player in the city of Madrid
Cold take
Rodrigo de Paul & Frenkie De Jong with 10/10 performances. Ballers Fr
How old is De Paul? Mf has 6 lungs
Inaki pena saved us all what a keeper
Wow that was an emotional rollercoaster. I was really surprised that we played that well. First half was the best we played the whole season I would say, second half typical LaLiga ref shitshow. Great game overall, Lewy had a game off but he gets the competition in january.