FC Barcelona 1-2 Atlético Madrid: Heartbreaking

FC Barcelona have suffered a third consecutive home defeat in Liga. And this was perhaps the cruellest of all. In one of those games that are impossible to fathom, they played delightful football from start to finish, while Atlético were just a shadow of the side they had been bigged up to be in the build-up to Saturday’s fixture.

Barça fans will be going home tonight wondering how on earth it happened, but they lost.

When Pedri had given the Catalans the lead after half an hour, it was a fair reflection of the utter blaugrana domination we had enjoyed.

On the back of footballing brilliance, there were plenty more chances where that came from, but the visitors managed to scramble an equaliser in practically their only attack of the entire 90 minutes of regular time play. Unfazed, Barça kept pressing, but the winner just didn’t want to come, and in the final minute of injury time, Atlético stunned the Estadi Olimpic with a late winner.

Liga lead lost

It was the first time since 2006 that Barça have lost at home to Atlético, and the result means that today’s winners go three points clear at the top of the table, and with a game in hand. If Real Madrid win on Sunday, Barça would drop down to third after collecting just five of the last 21 points on offer.

It’s not a great situation to be in, made all the more frustrating by the fact that today’s defeat was so utterly unwarranted. Barça had underperformed in their last two home fixtures, but there were no signs of recent shortcomings when this game got under way. All the energy and ideas that were lacking against Las Palmas and Leganés were back on display, and pretty much the entire first half was constant blaugrana pressure.

Pedri power

Raphinha came especially close to scoring before and an extremely busy Jan Oblak was finally beaten just before the half hour.

He was having a class game, but Gavi failed to fully control Pedri’s pass. Luckily for him, he inadvertently positioned the ball perfectly for the Canary Islander to finish off the move and put Barça ahead.

Nobody could argue that the lead was anything less than Barça deserved. They were well and truly bossing this in every department.

Shock equaliser

Unable to keep the ball long enough to create any danger of their own, Atlético were utterly overwhelmed at the back, making numerous unforced errors, and being made to look nothing like a side that had come into this game on a run of 11 straight victories.

But football can be a very cruel sport. Moments after Raphinha had lobbed the most exquisite of long balls from Pedri onto the bar, Atlético somehow managed to equalise.

A rare mistake from Marc Casadó and Rodrigo De Paul found himself in a position to shoot. With practically their first meaningful attack of the game, the visitors were back level.

A goal like that often changes the dynamic of a game. Not this time. It was still all Barça, and the Estadi Olimpic was possibly the loudest its ever been, as the fans willed the team to get the second goal and do justice to what they were witnessing.

Devastating finale

Robert Lewandowski had it. But he fumbled a wonderful opportunity, and in the move that immediately followed had it not been for a superlative Iñaki Peña, Pablo Barrios could have earned Atlético a mystifying lead.

The pace of this game had been relentless all the way, and the final minutes were more intense still. Barça piled forward, but time and again they came up against an inspired Oblak in the visiting goal. Atlético looked exhausted, but their Slovenian keeper was keeping them in the game. It was agonising to watch. Barça so, so deserved to be winning this.

They certainly didn’t deserve to lose it. But in the dying minutes of injury time, as they were desperately giving it one last go, Barça were caught on the break.

Alexander Sørloth was there to convert. Atlético had no idea how they had won this. And Barça had no idea how they had lost. Heartbreaking.