Barcelona hosted arguably the most in-form team in Spain today as Atletico Madrid visited the Olympic Saint Montjuic for La Liga gameweek 15.
Xavi’s men were not ready to take any prisoners, and put everything on the line from minute one, creating chances and running the show. In fact, Atleti should count themselves lucky they were not 2-0 down by 20 minutes.
Eventually, Barça came through with Joao Felix scoring a brilliant goal against his former club. Despite creating a bunch of chances through the game, though, the scored stayed the same as they climbed over Atletico in the table.
Inaki Pena: 8
Did not have too ‘saving’ to do in the first-half, but credit where credit is due, his distribution was excellent, and especially came through during Felix’s goal.
Pulled off two incredible stop in the second 45, though, preventing Memphis Depay from scoring a free-kick, and then in injury time, keeping the three points alive.
Jules Kounde: 8
A tremendous performance from Kounde at right-back, who was running rings around Rodrigo de Paul and Rodrigo Riquelme along with Raphinha. Created a huge chance for Lewandowski, and was a iron pillar defensively.
Ronald Araujo: 7
Came through with a clutch goal-line clearance early on, and was solid as ever in central defence. He was, however, brutally bodied by Marcos Llorente that nearly led to a goal.
Andreas Christensen: 7
Replaced Inigo Martinez in the lineup last-minute, and put in a superb performance, which is the least Barcelona fans expect from the Danish international at this point. Was neat and tidy in possession.
Joao Cancelo: 7
Cancelo combined well with Felix and Lewandowski on the flank and put in a few dangerous crosses, as well.
Frenkie de Jong: 9
It has become increasingly clear that Frenkie de Jong runs this Barcelona setup. Dropped in between the CBs as a half-back, and ran the show as the first receiver. Also made a huge block in the box preventing Griezmann from equalising.
Ilkay Gundogan: 10
Gundogan’s ability to pass at any angle puts Barcelona at a huge advantage at any given point in the game. He ran the show along with de Jong, and roved upfield when needed to. Created massive chances for Felix and Lewandowski, too, which was not put to bed.
In the second half, as Barcelona started losing steam a bit, he stepped up and controlled the game, combining brilliantly with Pedri and de Jong to take charge.
Pedri: 8
Pedri was playing as the most advanced of the midfielders, and did his job exceedingly well, causing damage in the final third. Created a superb opening for Raphinha in the first minute which went astray from goal, and nearly found himself 1v1 with Oblak later on.
Was much more involved in the middle of the park in the second half, combining with de Jong and Gundogan to control the tempo of the game.
Raphinha: 9
One of Raphinha’s best performances this season as he started causing havoc from minute one.
Combined with Pedri to nearly go through on goal, missing by a foot. Then created a brilliant chance for Lewandowski with a pin-point cross, and eventually helped Barça take the lead with a superb assist to Felix.
Hit the post in the second-half as well, and as always, put in an monster shift defensively to cap things off.
Robert Lewandowski: 4
Lewandowski had a game to forget, but his first half, especially, was spectacularly poor. Missed a bunch of clear-cut chances, including superb crosses from Raphinha and Kounde. Grew into the game, though, but his inability to put away chances of late is becoming a problem for Barcelona.
Joao Felix: 8.5
Felix was clearly motivated coming into the game, and his mental fortitude pulled him and the team through as he scored the only goal of the game with a delicious chip. Was also at the centre of the attack at all times.
SUBSTITUTES:
Lamine Yamal: N/A
Ferran Torres: N/A
