Félix hit the net again for “his” Atlético. Lewandowski contributed to Barcelona clear victory with a goal and two assists

Atlético hosted Barcelona in the 29th round of La Liga on Sunday. The team from Madrid failed to win the match and lost 0:3.

Atlético were the more active side in the start of match against Barcelona. In the seventh minute, Barrios narrowly missed the target with a shot from outside the sixteen.

The rest of the match did not offer many scoring opportunities, but the home side were more dangerous going forward. However, they were stopped in several cases by offside calls and whistles.

The calm first half was occasionally disrupted by a foul. Barcelona defender Jules Koundé was even shown a yellow card for his foul in the 33rd minute. A major turning point came five minutes later.

Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak first kept López out, but was short on the finish, which came not long after. After passes from Gündoğan and Lewandowski, João Félix hit the right post from the centre of the box. The Catalan striker visiting from Atlético, by the way, scored the only goal of the December friendly.

Emotions ran a little higher at the end of the half, with Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández not forgiving himself for comments towards the referees. He was given two yellow cards for his rant shortly after and watched the rest of the match from the stands.

In the 44th minute, Morata tried to respond to his opponent’s leading shot, but he shot too high. The teams went into the booths to spend the half-time break with a 0:1 scoreline. Diego Simeone, the Colchoneros coach, made two changes to the line-up at the break. Samuel Lin and Álvaro Morata were replaced by former Blaugranas Antoine Griezmann and Memphis Depay.

Also second half dominated by Barcelona

The visitors, however, could not have entered the second act any better. De Paul’s missed cross was punished and Robert Lewandowski, who sent the ball into the net after Raphinha’s assist, helped by a rebound off the left post to make it 2-0.

Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen added a second touch in the 53rd minute, parrying Llorente’s volley and Depay’s shot. In the 65th minute, he and his teammates came even closer to victory as Fermín López increased the Catalan lead with a header from the right after Lewandowski’s centre.

The team from the Spanish capital tried to make the rest of the match more dramatic, but the reigning league champions did not allow them to do so. Madrid were weakened further by a red card for a leaking Roque, fouled by Nahuel Molina. Barça then failed to convert a standard situation into a fourth goal in front of nearly 70,000 spectators at the Estadio Metropolitano.

Atlético remain in fifth place after a 0-3 defeat and will take on Villarreal after the transfer window. Barcelona leapfrogged Girona, who have not been doing so well recently, to move up to second place in the table. They will face Las Palmas at home in the next round.

Source: La Liga