FC Barcelona: Peña, Cancelo, Araujo, Christensen, Koundé, De Jong, Gündogan, Pedri (Fermín 89′), Raphinha (Yamal 77′), Felix (Torres 77′), Lewandowski
Bench: Astralaga, Balde, Christensen, Romeu, Sergi Roberto, Torres, Yamal, Kochen and Fermín
Goal: 1-0 Felix (28′)
Two suitors for the championship met when Barca took on Atlético Madrid in the 15th round of the league. Here, both teams needed all three points to keep pace with Real Madrid and Girona and the top of the league table. Xavi was forced into a change just before kick-off when Martínez was injured during the warm-up, giving Andreas Christensen a starting place.
Barca created a great opportunity for Raphinha in the first minute, but the Brazilian finished weakly across the face of the goal. A minute later it was Lewandowski who was played free in the box, but his shot was blocked for a corner. Barca had started well with speed on the ball and effective counter-pressure, which gave Lewandowski another good opportunity in the 12th minute, but the Pole leveled the ball well over the goal.
Barca dominated the match and clearly had most of the ball against an Atlético team that had difficulty creating anything. They were constantly under pressure and were rare guests in the Catalan field. Barca continued the good pace in front of a well-prepared Estadi Olímpic and the reward for the good play came in the 28th minute. Here Raphinha made a good pass to Felix who pulled into the box, after which he coolly tipped it over Oblak in the goal to make it 1-0. Felix has no problem celebrating that score in front of his former teammates.
A few minutes later, Atlético had their first serious finish of the game when Hermoso sent a shot narrowly wide of the goal. The visitors came further forward on the field and the atmosphere got a little heated between the players, which resulted in a number of yellow cards for Atlético. In the 36th minute, Atlético showed their teeth again on a conversion where Araujo could not keep up, but a heroic run back by De Jong saved the situation. The match maintained a high intensity for the first half, but it did not reach the end before the referee blew the whistle for half-time, after 45 very good minutes by Barca, where they were deservedly in front.
Barca continued on the same track from the start of the second half, putting Atlético under pressure. The Catalan counter-pressure was effective and therefore most things took place on the Catalans’ terms. There were several attempts to move up to something dangerous, but the final decisive passes did not arrive. Just after the hour mark, the first end of the half came when Raphinha crossed well and finished, but the ball took the outside of the post. A minute later, Atlético succeeded in converting, with Griezmann sending the ball into the side netting. Soon after, they were dangerous again when Morata finished close in front of goal, but Iñaki Peña got down well and made the save.
The guests started to get along better and they probably sensed the opportunity to bring something home from Barcelona. The momentum had gone out of Barca’s game and it was clearly about not taking too many risks. It wasn’t until the middle of the half that Barca came to their next finish after a good return pressure, but Felix sent the ball a little way past the goal. Atlético stood high on the pitch and pressured Barca in the play-off and that meant a lot of Catalan turnovers. Only a quarter of an hour before time did Xavi change, when Felix and Raphinha were replaced by Yamal and Torres. Soon after, Koundé took a free kick just outside the box. Here, Memphis sent the ball up towards one corner of the goal, but Peña came flying with a formidable save, so the ball hit the crossbar.
A minute later, Atlético got another free kick outside the box, but the shot from Griezmann hit the wall. The visitors had pushed Barca to the bottom and the Catalans could not hold onto the ball any longer. In the 86th minute, however, Barca managed to catch Atlético on a conversion, so Lewandowski was completely free, but the Pole burned badly by sending the ball wide of the goal. Here he should have closed the match. In the 89th minute, a dead tired Pedri was replaced by Fermín. In the 93rd minute, there could have been an equalizer when Correa had an open shooting opportunity, but Peña was where he needed to be with an important save. It was the last action of the match, where Barca secured an extremely important victory of 1-0.
