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Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid met at Montjuic on Saturday night in the La Liga qualifying clash to decide who finishes at the top of the table for the new year.
After back-to-back home defeats, Barcelona were under pressure to get back to winning ways against Diego Simeone. Hansi Flick, however, remained unavailable due to his suspension.
Barcelona dominated the match from the first minute and incessantly advanced towards the goal, but only managed the solitary goal in the first half through Pedri González.
However, before doubling his lead and solidifying his position, the Colcheneros He closed the gap against the run of play and leveled the score and the visitors stole the late winning goal.
Barça Universal brings you the evaluations of the Barcelona 1-2 Atlético de Madrid players.
Pena Overlap: 7
The goalkeeper had an unnaturally quiet first half after Barcelona’s dominant performance and was literally unchallenged throughout the period as Atlético Madrid failed to apply any pressure in the final third.
Nothing I could do to deny The Red and Whites’ equalizer. He made a great save in the 76th minute, but couldn’t stop the winning goal.
Alejandro Balde: 7.5
A very positive performance by Balde, who always pressed high in attack. Relatively free of defensive duties, he combined with Fermín and Pedri to create space behind the defense and often found the right crosses.
Inigo Martinez: 7
A mature and experienced performance from the Basque veteran who was largely unflappable and unchallenged throughout the night, but alert to step up on the few occasions he was asked to.
Pau Cubarsi: 7
Not much was expected of him in defense at Montjuic, as the visitors sat back and defended only to escape on the occasional counterattack. He looked solid in the few challenges that came his way and was as reliable as ever with his distribution.
Jules Koundé: 8
The right-back stepped up in the absence of Lamine Yamal and provided width down the right flank while maintaining solid defensive cover. He was solid with his distribution and link-up play in the final third and looked more accurate than in recent games.
Marc Casado: 6.5
The youngster was impressive in the first half, maintaining the cycle of possession and winning the ball back to great effect to demonstrate the dominance of Barcelona’s midfield.
Unusually, he made a poor clearance after the break to gift Atlético Madrid the equalizer and undo all the team’s efforts.
Peter: 9
The Canarian, once again, controlled the rhythm of Barcelona’s midfield with great precision and was one of the key elements by which the Catalans managed to completely overcome Atlético de Madrid’s midfield. He was calm on the ball, selecting the right attacking passes and connecting with those around him.
He scored Barcelona’s first goal that night with a wonderful sequence of play in which he created and finished the chance himself with a little help from Gavi.
His power only grew after the break as he moved into a more advanced role and began creating plays with greater effect.
Gavi: 7.5
He The Masia Starlet was the surprise in the starting lineup when Flick placed him in place of Dani Olmo as a playmaker.
Deploying Gavi as an attacking midfielder worked wonders as Barcelona have a solid attacking presence with great ball skills and therefore did not give away possession easily.
Gavi may not have been as involved in the play as his teammates, but he made the right runs, stood out even with defensive contributions and recorded his first assist of the season for Pedri’s goal.
Fermin Lopez: 6.5
Starting at Barcelona’s left back and taking Yamal’s place in the lineup, the young midfielder brought freshness to the table for the Catalans.
He didn’t have many scoring opportunities given his position, and although he often moved towards the center to join the attack, he did well as a pseudo winger as required of him.
Rafinha: 9
The Brazil international worked tirelessly for Barcelona throughout the night, running behind the defense to get into scoring positions and also choosing his teammates as a creative source.
He played on the right wing that night in place of Yamal and did well to replace the youngster as he provided a more direct presence compared to Yamal’s trickery and trickery.
He missed an easy chance by his standards in the second half when he beat his shot over Oblak.
Robert Lewandowski: 5
The Polish striker did not put in a performance that demonstrated his efficiency in front of goal despite the team’s dominance, as Barcelona’s chances often fell to the second men in midfield.
He continued to be poor in front of goal on his few occasions. They missed a couple of assistants in the second half that could have ended the game.
