Barça torments Simeone and delights with a performance (0-3)

BarcelonaDream, this Barça. He’s excited now that he finally has the facts that prove Xavi right, with good play and good results. After the sweet European hangover, the Blaugrana team searched the Atlético de Madrid pitch with some unexpected ease, since no one had ever won there at the Metropolitano. Sometimes football teams have to take blows to become strong, like this Barça, which keeps losing players to injuries but does not give up, like the young people of the Masia always add up. And while Lewandowski was handing out gifts, Barça stretched out the ears of a Simeone who had not yet beaten Xavi and set about pursuing the dream that, according to some, is feasible, according to others, still utopian, the league and the league title to win

On the Atlético field, where no one had ever won in the league, Barça knew how to suffer and strike while playing. He knew how to wait for many minutes, then step on the gas and score with a great game from Lewandowski, ready like a ferret, always understanding what needed to be done. This means that Barça is already in second place in the table. It took him God and help to beat Girona, but at the moment he is already the one chasing Madrid in the standings. And all with a goal from João Félix. He had to be the one to pave the way to victory.

When you visit Atlético de Madrid’s field you usually lose years of life, but Barça came out younger. It’s not a place where you can walk around in 21 buttons on a Sunday and come home without a stain on your clothes. On the contrary, rivals take your energy away, especially if you have already been their player, as was the case with João Félix. But the Portuguese ended a well-rounded game with a hearty laugh. And you see, it seemed impossible to win after losing footballers like Cancelo and Christensen. The Blaugrana midfield was in trouble with so many losses that Gündogan ended up acting as a key player, far away from his friend Lewandowski, with Sergi Roberto and Fermín close by.

The Law of Ex

When Andreas Christensen was injured during warm-up, the protagonist was already João Félix, the footballer who belongs to Atlético but wears Blaugrana. The Portuguese took the Madrid fans by storm with his haughty pose as he celebrated the winning goal in the first leg at the Olympic Stadium. Xavi, who had condemned him as a substitute in recent months because he didn’t seem very motivated in training, gave him the chance to win the title. Said and done. Whenever these two teams play, footballers who have defended the other team’s jersey usually score, be it Luis Suárez, David Villa or Antoine Griezmann. It was up to him to mark the Portuguese again, as if it were written by fate, as if a superior had dictated it that way. The law of the ex, they usually tell him. Of course, he had to be the one to score the first goal of the game.

And see that until then João Félix had done very little, as if he were a soul in pain. But shortly before the break he took advantage of the Blaugrana’s second attack and shot the ball into the net after Lewandowski’s preparatory work. Unlike in the first leg, the Portuguese didn’t celebrate. And if he intended to do so, his colleagues wouldn’t allow it as they immediately hugged him, more to protect him than to congratulate him. They hid him from the wrath of the home fans.

It was a duel in which he had to suffer and wait. Because initially the game was played the way the home team had wanted, more aggressive, more committed. Xavi, who gave Lamine Yamal peace, insisted on Raphinha, the apple of his eye, a tireless man who was not entirely lucky. On the other hand, the young Pau Cubarsí defended the Barcelona flag alongside a friend like Héctor Fort. More minutes for young people from the Masia to discover that nothing is given away in the Metropolitano. Places where you learn, win or lose.

Barcelona’s defense shined for much of the game, repeatedly allowing Morata to fall into the offside trap and preventing the home team’s dominance from leading to a flood of shots on goal. Almost the Blaugrana’s only shot before the break was a goal. Despite the defeats and the stage, Barça won. Things were going well, but Xavi wasn’t having enough and was sent off for protesting before half-time, even though it wasn’t even a game with controversial moves.

The goal changed everything. Simeone, who has lost absolutely every game against Xavi, brought Griezmann and Memphis into the game at half-time, thinking that if João Félix had scored against his former team, these two could do the same. But the one who saw the goal was Lewandowski, almost on the first move of the second half, after a mistake by an opponent who was too hasty. Atlético was tired of giving away gifts and Barça took advantage of this to heal the wound with the third goal, the work of Fermín, another young player from La Masia who almost never fails. More consistently than almost anyone else, he is one of the young players who are changing the face of a team that ended with Vitor Roque on the pitch. A well-rounded day to ensure that the European joy does not disappear from the faces of the fans and players. A week to confront a team that is losing players but gaining confidence.