The last few weeks have given us all kinds of reasons to feel a lot more optimistic about FC Barcelona’s season, but what we got today tops the them all.
Atlético Madrid were the Champions League quarter finalists who hadn’t lost a single game at home this Liga season. They have now. Diego Simeone’s side were well and truly put to the sword at the Civitas Metropolitano as Barça romped home to a 3-0 win that will have sent shock waves all the way to Paris.
The three points also mean that Barça have closed down what many had once feared was an unsurmountable difference between themselves and Girona. Barça move up to second in the table, which means that, provided they can hold onto that place, they will be going to the Spanish Super Cup next year.
But the sights are still set even higher than that. Real Madrid may not have been dropping points the same way as the side from northern Catalonia, and are still eight clear at the top. But from what we witnessed this evening, Barça are very much still in right place to keep dreaming.
Félix does it again
These games are always high-octane affairs, and the tension was certainly getting to Xavi, whose yellow card was upgraded to a red before the first 45 minutes were up.
By that stage, Barça were already a goal to the good, but it had taken a mighty effort to earn that lead.
In fact, the opener came somewhat against the run of play. Until then, the vast majority of the attacking football had come from the Atlético camp, but a combination of shoddy finishing and solid blaugrana defending meant it came to very little.
It wasn’t until the final minutes of the first half that Barça really started to get things moving in the direction, and Atlético were made to pay for not taking their chances when they had them.
João Félix scored the only goal in a 1-0 win against his parent club earlier this season, and he was again on target to give Barça a 39th minute lead in this one. Following a made-in-Barça series of quick passes into the box, Robert Lewandowski slipped an exquisite assist the way of the Portuguese forward and Jan Oblak was well beaten.
Lewandowski MVP
On the other side of the interval, Barça quickly doubled their lead. Rodrigo De Paul gave away a foolish ball deep inside his own half, Raphinha said thank you very much and Lewandowski finished off the move by poking the ball in off of the post.
It may have been a different story had Ter Stegen not made to simply incredible saves in rapid succession, but the Catalans went on to dominate the game and any danger of an Atlético recovery was put to bed when Fermin López made it 3-0.
Man of the match Lewandowski shares the credit for an absolutely perfect ball onto the 20-year-old’s head in what was turning into a masterclass from the Polish veteran.
Positive vibes!
The remainder of the game was a mere formality, and also offered a chance for Marc Casadó to come on for his first ever minutes of Liga action. Atlético were made to look a mere shadow of the side that has made such a fortress out of the Metropolitano this season, and to rub salt into their wound, ended the game with ten men after Nahuel Molina brought down substitute Vitor Roque when the Brazilian was through on goal.
And so it ended. A faultless performance and a simply stupendous result at the home of one of the strongest teams in Europe. Possibly the best Barça showing of the season so far.
Before this game, Xavi spoke about his pleasure at the restored positivity among the team, fans and media. The mood is more positive than ever now! The only bad news is that with a break for internationals upon us, we have to wait two weeks before the next game, when Las Palmas come to the Estadi Olimpic on March 30.