Atlético de Madrid started hot but faded badly as FC Barcelona won a highly-anticipated top-of-the-table clash in LaLiga on Sunday.
Giuliano Simeone had opened the scoring inside 10 minutes after a Lee Kang-in diagonal found Julián Alvarez, who made up for an earlier 1v1 miss by teeing up Giuliano for his fourth goal of the season.
But as been the case around here in recent years, defensive mistakes doomed Atlético in the end, as Marc Pubill was caught out to allow Fermín López to equalize on the stroke
of halftime. Fermín scored again after 65 minutes, as Lamine Yamal’s pass caught Dávid Hancko by surprise and allowed the attacking midfielder the time and space to beat Jan Oblak again.
Following Barcelona’s go-ahead goal, Atlético struggled to create any meaningful opportunities to threaten the visitors’ lead. Simeone’s men offered little going forward in the closing stages, ultimately falling to a disappointing 2-1 defeat.
The result is a bit unfair for Atleti as they will feel they played well enough to get at least a point, but Barcelona did enough and Atleti will go five points behind the leaders — and two points behind Real Madrid — going into the November international break.
Here at the player ratings for this one:
Starting XI
Jan Oblak
Not the strongest showing from Oblak, who had a relatively quiet match and was not called upon to make any spectacular saves. That being said, there was little the Slovenian could have done to prevent either of Fermín’s two goals, as both left him with very little chance of keeping the ball out of the net. 5
Alejandro Grimaldo
Grimaldo struggled to contain Lamine Yamal in the opening stages of the match but gradually settled in as the game progressed, benefiting from some much-needed defensive support from Hancko. Similar to Atlético’s Champions League encounter against Bayern Munich, Grimaldo was forced to spend so much time dealing with his defensive responsibilities that he had very few opportunities to contribute going forward. 5.5
Dávid Hancko
Completely lost track of Fermín on Barcelona’s second goal. Spent much of the match providing Grimaldo with additional defensive support against Lamine Yamal. 5
Marc Pubill
Pubill was putting together a fantastic first-half performance for 44 of the opening 45 minutes, but an unfortunate error allowed Fermín to equalize for Barcelona just before the break. Outside of that costly mistake, there were plenty of positives to take away from his performance. Hopefully, this is a showing that Pubill can build upon moving forward. 5.5
Marcos Llorente
A relatively quiet match from Llorente individually. Barcelona’s intention to overload the left side of Atlético’s defense through Lamine Yamal was clear from the opening whistle, making Llorente’s defensive positioning and discipline all the more important. Struggled a bit in the second half containing Anthony Gordon and Karim Adeyemi. 5.5
Koke
Monster performance from the captain, returning to the starting lineup after missing six matches. Koke might not always grab the headlines, but his importance to Atlético cannot be overstated. His ability to read the game and make the right decision, whether it’s playing a first-time pass, taking an extra touch, progressing the ball forward or turning away from pressure, is invaluable. He makes the game look simple, and his intelligence extends beyond possession, knowing exactly when to press and when to hold his position defensively. 7
Pablo Barrios
It’s an absolute pleasure watching Pablo Barrios play football. Atlético’s midfield looks significantly more organized and composed whenever he’s on the pitch. While he often receives praise for his passing and ability to build attacks, Barrios at halftime led the team in defensive contributions, highlighting just how complete his performance had been. Alongside Koke, he commanded the midfield and gave Atleti a level of control and stability that has often been missing. 7
Giuliano Simeone
The coach’s son seems to have a knack for delivering against Barcelona, having now registered three goal contributions in his last four appearances against the Catalan side. Giuliano was once again in the right place at the right time, getting on the end of a beautifully placed pass from Alvarez and firing home the opening goal to give Atlético an early lead. My man of the match for Atleti. 7
Álex Baena
Baena caused Brian Fariñas all sorts of problems throughout the first half, consistently getting the better of the young Spaniard. His influence was so significant that Barcelona opted to replace Brian with Frenkie de Jong at halftime. 6
Lee Kang-in
Played a brilliant ball to release Alvarez in the buildup to Atlético’s opening goal. He later created another golden opportunity for Alvarez, putting him through one-on-one with the goalkeeper, only for the Argentine to send his effort soaring over the crossbar. I would have liked to see him stay on longer, as he was a constant creative threat and gave Barcelona’s fullbacks all sorts of problems throughout his time on the pitch. 7
Julián Alvarez
Took too long and overthought his one-on-one chance with Joan García. Made up for it moments later delivering a lovely assist on Giuliano Simeone’s opening goal. In the second half, he again found himself one on one with the keeper and decides to try to chip it over him this time around and to no avail. A head-scratching decision to keep him on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. 5.5
Substitutes:
Alexander Sørloth
Entered the action for Lee Kang-in right at the hour mark. His trot onto the pitch was about how involved the Norwegian got in Atlético’s attack. 5
Johnny Cardoso
Looked good in his 20 minutes after being swapped on for Baena in the 72nd minute. Hopefully Johnny can stay healthy and build on this performance. 6
Morten Hjulmand
Did not make much of an impact after being substituted on for Koke in the 72nd minute. 5
Jonathan David
Replaced Pablo Barrios in the 78th minute. I would have liked to see David start this match, but his late introduction left him with very little time to make a meaningful impact on the game. 5
