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Score: FC Barcelona 1-0 Atletico Madrid
Goalscorer: Lionel Messi 26'
A Lionel Messi freekick ensured FC Barcelona emerged victorious in a clash that was dubbed as the La Liga title decider. Atletico Madrid were beaten 1-0 and are now eight points behind the Catalans.
Both sides started with the expected lineups with 4-4-2 being the favoured formation for Valverde and Simeone. It was a feisty affair, to say the least, and lived up to its blockbuster billing in the second half.
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So without further ado, let's discuss the big game in much more detail and dissect the five talking points that emerged from Barcelona's brilliant win over the Colchoneros:
#5 A dismal first-half performance from Atletico Madrid
Atletico Madrid had made the title race interesting with their stunning form of late. The visitors were the side that needed three points here at the Camp Nou to cut down Barcelona's lead to just two points. But the eagerness or the intentions to get the better of their opponents was lacking from Atletico for the first 45 minutes.
It was expected that Atletico will look to play on the counter and give Barcelona the control of the ball. The visitors applied a low block but were not too eager to offer transitions. They defended too deep in the first half and the duo of Diego Costa and Antoine Griezmann were anonymous in the first interval.
Atletico attempted just one shot in the first half; a wayward shot from distance from Thomas Partey. Without the ball, Atletico failed to press with intent and looked lethargic at times to close down the gaps for the Barcelona players to operate.
Their first-half performance gifted the momentum to Barcelona as it was the hosts that looked like wanting the three points at any cost rather than the other way around.
#4 A disappointing outing for Philippe Coutinho
Ernesto Valverde has employed his side predominantly in a 4-4-2 formation this season. With Iniesta starting this game from the left, Philippe Coutinho was forced to start the game from the right flank. The Brazilian has not played in that position and looked short of confidence on the night.
He took the majority of his decisions hastily and was not at his fluent best on the right wing. Luis Suarez and Sergio Busquets were often seen suggesting him to cut inside and get more involved in the game. But when Iniesta was substituted with a hamstring injury, Coutinho came back to his favoured left wing position.
His performance somewhat improved as he instantly looked threatening while running with the ball. But his decision making was poor on the night as he lost as many as 12 duels and was dispossessed four times. The former Liverpool man is still in his settling period at a new club and it will take time to adjust to the demands of playing for FC Barcelona.
#3 Griezmann fails in his audition whereas Iniesta gives Barcelona a huge worry
Antoine Griezmann has been linked with a €100 million move to FC Barcelona in the summer. This was labelled as his final audition before the transfer window with extra attention being on him because of all the transfer rumours and also because of the fact that he had never scored at Camp Nou ever before.
But he was nowhere close to breaking that voodoo tonight as the Frenchman delivered a lacklustre performance. It was not all down to him though because the tactics employed by Atletico Madrid hardly gave him and Diego Costa anything to work with. Griezmann was left to feed on scraps with his best work coming in closing down the Barcelona players in his own half.
Meanwhile, FC Barcelona had a huge problem of their own as Andres Iniesta limped off with a hamstring injury in the 36th minute. He was struggling to carry on but still continued to play for 10 minutes after feeling his hamstring. The veteran is now a major doubt for next week's clash against Chelsea which will be a major blow to the Catalans in their bid to topple the English champions.
#2 Diego Simeone loses the manager battle handsomely
Both the managers had a lot riding upon them ahead of this fixture. Ernesto Valverde had not tasted success against Diego Simeone in 10 attempts (six losses, four draws) whereas El Cholo had never beaten FC Barcelona in 12 previous league encounters (eight losses, four draws).
It was Valverde who emerged victorious on the night with a smart, collective and a professional performance against Atletico Madrid. Simeone, on the other hand, set up his team too defensively in the first half which resulted in their undoing.
Atletico looked far more threatening in the second half and the substitution of Angel Correa worked in their favour with a shift to 4-3-3. Simeone could have gone for the jugular in this one but his reactive start to the game led Barcelona to now have one hand on the coveted title.
Meanwhile, Valverde has managed his first win over Simeone in style with a composed and controlled display. This Barcelona side looked compact, a well-drilled unit that did not consistently play tippy-tappy football but fought their way to all three points. This win has also strengthened the dream of going unbeaten in the league this campaign.
#1 Another game, another milestone for Lionel Messi
This gentleman does things on a football field that just makes you wonder how lucky you are to see him live in action! Against Atletico Madrid, Lionel Messi scored the winner through a sumptuous free-kick to register his 24th league goal of the season.
In doing so, Messi netted his 600th career goal in 747 appearances for club and country. This was his 539th goal for FC Barcelona and his 28th assault on goal against Atletico Madrid. Yesterday, Cristiano Ronaldo notched up his 300th La Liga goal and today it was the turn of the great man to write one more record to his name in the history books.
Coming back to his goal, this was his third straight freekick which has nestled against the back of the net. Girona, Las Palmas and now Atletico Madrid have been the victims of Messi's dead ball skills. No one has scored more freekick goals than Messi this season (5).
The three free kicks in as many games have been starkly different from another. Tonight's freekick was a traditional one dinked over the wall and hitting the top corner. Against Las Palmas, the Argentine decided to go for the near post and against Girona, he went under the wall. As if stopping him in open play was next to impossible, this little genius has now started to score for fun from dead ball situations.
