Barcelona came back from a strong defeat to Atletico Madrid 3-1 to move four points clear of La Liga leaders.
Atletico went ahead on Tuesday thanks to Raphinha’s equalization before Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres scored the winning goal to wrap up their 13-game winning streak in league play.
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If Robert Lewandowski had not tipped the first-half penalty over the bar, Barcelona might have been more at ease.
Real Madrid, who are second, travels to Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, hoping to reclaim the lead over Barca, while Diego Simeone’s Atletico are fourth and six points adrift of the Catalans.
After losing to Madrid in October, Barca won their fifth straight La Liga game, but they haven’t consistently shined. However, this display, against a title rival, gave Flick’s side a welcome boost.
According to Spanish reports, they were without defender Ronald Araujo, who is currently taking a mental health break, as well as ill midfielder Frenkie de Jong and the longer-term absentees.
Nerves were tingling at Camp Nou following a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last week in the Champions League, followed by a shaky victory over Alaves to take the lead in La Liga.
After a tense opening, Atletico took the lead with a ball, as one might expect, in front of Barcelona’s persistently high defensive line.
Joan Garcia was barely appreciative when Baena sprinted past the linesman’s raised flag behind him.
The Spaniard broke, but a VAR review revealed that the goal had been reinstated because he was on par with Pau Cubarsi.
Barcelona quickly responded and leveled with Raphinha in the 26th minute thanks to Pedri’s back-fitting start.
The Brazilian winger, who has also recently recovered from injury, slipped the ball into Jan Oblak’s empty net.
After Pablo Barrios had sent down Dani Olmo, Barcelona should have given up the lead, but Lewandowski spurned a penalty and fired fired high and wide of Oblak.
Moments later, the veteran Polish player almost made amends, but Oblak undoubtedly deflected his header past Lamine Yamal’s cross.
When Raphinha should have hit the intended target early in the second half, Giuliano Simeone couldn’t avoid the goal with a beckoning finish.
After Lewandowski managed to bundle the ball into his path, Olmo, who scored twice against Alaves on Saturday, gave Barcelona a sharp lead with a deft finish.
Olmo, a playmaker who struggled with consistency at Barca as a result of a number of physical issues, injured his shoulder and was replaced by Marcus Rashford.
Fans were left hoping it was just a scare ahead of Barca’s crucial Champions League game against Frankfurt, but Pedroi also suffered a broken leg after 70 minutes and was replaced by Flick.
Thiago Almada, an Atletico substitute, had the best chance to equalize, but he lost balance and slammed his finish wide as Joan Garcia ran out.
In stoppage time, Barca’s win was sealed thanks to an error from Blak, who saved from Rashford before Alejandro Balde scored the winner, giving his side three crucial title points while putting an end to Atletico’s own ambitions.
Raphinha praised Barcelona’s unwavering ability to win.
The key is to believe in the finished product. The Barcelona captain told Movistar, “We are prepared to come from behind,” but we are aware that this can happen in a lot of games [falling behind].
We are gaining more self-assurance. We were aware that this was crucial. The league’s fate could depend on three points, which are extremely crucial.
The Atletico keeper expressed his frustration with his side’s mishandled chances.
More goals were necessary. Barcelona had a lot of chances today. We had two chances to win, but it was impossible, Oblak told Movistar.
Source: Aljazeera
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