FC Barcelona triumphs over Atletico. Robert Lewandowski was strikingly ineffective

Before the direct match, both FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid were seven points behind Real Madrid, the leader in La Liga, and second-placed Girona. Robert Lewandowski has been showing ineffectiveness for a long time, which is pointed out by the Catalan media. This did not change in the match against Rojiblancos.

FC Barcelona started an attack on Atletico Madrid’s goal

The pride of Catalonia went on the attack from the first seconds of the match. Gundogan, Pedri and Raphinha played a three-player. The Brazilian received a key pass from the Spaniard and came face to face with Oblak, but he missed badly. A few dozen seconds later, De Paul sent a pass that was interrupted by Felix, who passed it to Lewandowski, whose shot was blocked but scored by a corner. The guests tried to respond in the 5th minute when Llorente played a backheel to Molina, who shot dirty at Pena’s goal.

FC Barcelona’s attack continued. After a few moments of positional play, Raphinha passed the ball to Kounde, who crossed it to Lewandowski, who tried to volley, but again it was ineffective. The defense of the Madrid team had its hands full of work. Blaugrana bombarded them with crosses from both sides, but the attackers lost the aerial duels and their shots were blocked. When Griezmann moved forward after receiving a pass in a favorable position, he was caught offside.

Joao Felix has scolded his parent club

We had to wait until the 27th minute for the first goal. Kounde carried out an action on the right side of the field and then passed to Raphinha. The Brazilian played to Felix, who was 16 meters away, and he defeated Oblak with a sweep. After this situation, two visiting players, Gimenez and Witsel, received yellow cards for foul play. Hermoso found himself in the penalty area and hit the ball just wide of the post. In the 36th minute, Rojiblancos had a very dangerous situation initiated by Llorente. The Spaniard passed a through ball towards Griezmann, but his shot was blocked.

The game became very aggressive. First, the referee had to intervene during a dispute between Gimenez and Felix, after which the speeding Raphinha was illegally stopped by Koke and the Spaniard received a yellow card. Blaugrana, on the other hand, did not intend to stop. Lewandowski did a very good job of receiving the ball and then played it to Gundogan, who shot the ball into the center of the penalty area, where Felix was. This time the Portuguese did not convert the shot into a goal. In added time, Cancelo crossed the ball to Lewandowski, and the Pole headed it over the crossbar. After a while, the referee sent the players to a break.

FC Barcelona’s dominance continued unabated

Dieo Simeone made three changes. Azpilicueta, Correa and Lino took the place of Riquelme, Molina and Gimenez. The first one mentioned did not have a good start to the game, because he was shown a yellow card just a minute later. After a while, Felix shared his fate and fouled Correa. The pride of Catalonia did not stop attacking and kept aggressively pushing into Atletico’s penalty area. The active Pedri sent the ball into the middle of the sixteen several times, but none of the attackers were able to finish the actions he created.

In the 57th minute, Raphinha decided to make an individual raid, running into the penalty area and taking a shot, after which the ball bounced off the post. Bewildered, Atletico launched a counterattack, which ended with Griezmann shooting into the side net. The visiting coach has already taken advantage of all the changes, allowing Depay and Saul onto the pitch in place of Koke and Morata. FC Barcelona players stayed in the opponents’ half more often, and in the 69th minute Pedri sent the ball to Felix, who tried to surprise Oblak with a shot with the outside of his foot.

Robert Lewandowski wasted a great opportunity

There were 20 minutes left until the end of the regular game time, and Atletico’s players moved higher, trying to play with a positional attack, but Blaugrana played excellent pressing. A few dozen seconds later, Gundogan passed an excellent ball to Kounde, but the Frenchman hit the ball incorrectly from the side of the penalty area. After a while, Griezmann received the ball and went one-on-one with Pena, but Araujo caught up with him and consequently passed the ball inaccurately to his teammate. In the 80th minute, Atletico won a free kick close to the sixteenth minute. Depay approached the ball and shot it under the crossbar, but Pena saved it brilliantly.

Less than a minute later, Araujo fouled again near his own penalty area and the referee whistled the foul again. This time, Griezmann took the shot, but the ball bounced off the wall and went out for a corner kick. After the unsuccessful play, Blaugrana launched a counterattack, and Lewandowski had a chance to break the scoring weakness. The Pole ran with the ball into the penalty area and dribbled past Hermoso, then shot it past the post. In the third minute of added time, Pena saved Correa’s situation 100%, which caused applause from the stadium stands. Neither team managed to change the result and after four added minutes, the referee ended the match.