Thomas Lemar opened the scoring for Atletico Madrid before Luis Suarez extended the lead towards the end of first half to seal the three points.
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Barcelona’s poor start to the season continues as Atletico Madrid beat them 2-0 in the La Liga fixture at Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday. Thomas Lemar hit the first goal for the hosts before Luis Suarez extended the lead towards the end of first half to seal the three points. Meanwhile Barcelona once again looked out of ideas, not able to cause any kind of serious threat to a solid Atletico Madrid defence. Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman looked at the sorry state of his team from his place high in the Wanda Metropolitano as he was serving a touchline ban.
Joao Felix who was making his first La Liga start of the season alongside Suarez was causing all sorts of problems for a demoralised Barcelona defence. The Portuguese international’s attempt from the edge of the box went wide of the Barca goal. In the 23rd minute, Lemar got on the score sheet after some good work by Felix. The 21-year-old spun away from Barca’s right-back Oscar Mingueza with a brilliant first touch and played the ball to Suarez whose first-time pass set up Lemar inside the box. The Frenchman slotted the ball past Barcelona goalkeeper Marc Andre ter-Stegen and into the roof of the net. Veteran’s Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets argued on their way back to half-way mark as their defence was opened up in three quick passes.
In response, Philippe Coutinho’s half-volley on the bounce from the edge of the area went narrowly wide. Meanwhile Diego Simeone’s side once again opened up the Barca defence with a triangle of passes. This time, Yannick Carrasco played the ball to Felix who set up Suarez inside the box, but the Uruguayan’s attempt from a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper missed the target.
Coutinho’s cross was headed across the edge of the box by Memphis Depay but Frankie couldn’t reach it. Meanwhile at the other end, the home side doubled the lead in the 44th minute. It was yet another breakaway move. Mingueza was out of position when Depay lost the ball possession. Felix had drawn forward Araujo along with him as he played the ball to Lemar. The 25-year-old midfielder crossed the ball to Suarez who took his time with two touches before firing the ball past Ter Stegen and into the goal.
“They scored two goals with very little effort, while we could have kept on playing for three hours and not score a goal,” Barcelona’s Gerard Pique said. “We are suffering, honestly. These are difficult times, and many of us on the team have never been through this.”
After the restart, Atletico sat back and allowed Barcelona to have much of the ball possession. Simeone’s side were masters at sitting back and absorbing the pressure. Meanwhile this Messi-less Barca team didn’t have the spark to break down the Atletico defence. 17-year-old Gavi created Barca’s first chance of the second half as he set-up Coutinho but the Brazilian’s shot was saved by Jan Oblak.
Ansu Fati, who came in for Gavi in the 63rd minute quickly earned a free-kick but fired his attempt over the bar. Few moments later, Fati forced a save from Oblak after turning away from Jose Gimenez.
The win helped Atletico Madrid to 17 points from eight games, level on points with leaders Real Madrid who will play Espanyol on Sunday. Meanwhile Barcelona have dropped to ninth spot with 12 points from seven games.
“From our well-ordered group, we found the space we needed and made the most of it,’ Simeone said. “This game wasn’t different from our previous ones, but Messi made the difference then and he is no longer around.”
