Cdr: FC Barcelona - Atletico de Madrid 1-0

Barcadub

New member
Great result.

When the time comes for Atletico to play Real Madrid in the league. 6 from their last 9 games would have been against Real Madrid and Barcelona. That is seriously tough going.

Hopefully we get the first goal in the second leg and then we should control things.
 

DinhoR10

New member
Great result.

When the time comes for Atletico to play Real Madrid in the league. 6 from their last 9 games would have been against Real Madrid and Barcelona. That is seriously tough going.

Hopefully we get the first goal in the second leg and then we should control things.

Hopefully they take Real down and leave them open for a final assault from us. Then we'll have the double :D
 

doublehh03

New member
We absolutely dominated them both times we have faced them. The score doesn't do justice to our dominance. They rarely attacked and lacked scoring opportunities. We missed quite a few, and were quite unlucky.

We're improving and thats great to see.

Damn Messi 12 dribbles again. Goddamn he OWNS Atletico this year.
 

Gaudi

Senior Member
We improved, that is obvious now. We play a bit faster, more intensity...of course we can and must still improve. Off ball movement and general understanding, but we improved comparing to the earlier games.
It will always be difficult to play against those "super buses", even Guardiola's Barca had those problems, but I hope buses from teams like Almeria, Sociedad or similar won't be that big of a problem anymore. But in games like this First goal always changes everything, it destorys "bus team" game plan and we had that golden opportunity through Suarez.
Let's all remember we couldn't beat Atletico last year in any game, we now beat them two times in 10 days.
 

rixxer

New member
We played well, not that great comparing to league game, but Atleti had adjusted their tactics, played to get a draw and not to concede. Remember, it is play-off and two legged series. Apart from Atleti changed tactics Barca still dominated (not only in possession), but we did not play great (just well) because there were 5 minutes periods we just couldn't get three or four passes together, some of them really simple ones. Overhit or the movement of players was not in sync. Fortunately these periods were short enough and team worked like a animals farm's horse in defensive end to clear any danger after missed pass and turnover of the ball.
It really has to be pointed out how much better the defence is and I really have this impression that a lot of it actually is credted to offensively frustrating Suarez. Just tirelessly working back and comparing to pedro it is very physical harassing when he charges upon the enemy. Might not be the prettiest thing to watch, but it is really effective, Atleti were not able to bring ball up easily and their passing was distrupted near their own goal. But yeah, he should have buried his chance and occasional diving requires is embarassing as well. Still, if he starts to score (and mark my words, he will) he will be tremendous buy, well worth money spent on him.
Anyhow, the defence part is joy to watch right now, calm and solid, Atleti could not get a chance on goal no panic clearences, but if necessary do to it, everything was done without brainfreezes. As our defensive line is very high at the Camp, there were some occasions that striker almost got through near midway line, but some great tackling and cover prevented the worst and Mats was occasionally Neuer-like.
I really even appreciate this game more than previous one in the league, because it was obviuos that Simeone will change his approach and thus it will be much more difficult to break the bus. We created enough chances, but it could have been even better if some of the passing wasn't awful at times.
And it wasn't that thuggish and dirty as the league game in my opinion, but yeah, the ref was typical la liga one. Just inconsistent and bad.
 
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i_bleed_blaugrana

Senior Member
Sloppy. Unconvincing.

Again, this isn't last year's atletico's. Them losing Costa, Filipe and Courtois were massive blows to this team, particularly Courtois and Luis. I see this as more of them getting weaker and tired overall than us getting stronger. Sure the defense looks better but of course it will when both of the fullbacks don't overlap. Other than that, we had a midfield that didn't create much of anything other than Rakitic's pass to Suarez. It's nothing coordinated, we score opportunistic goals against the run of play at times or it's Messi pulling a rabbit out of a hat. That's not going to cut it against better teams.

All I'm saying is this team should be playing a lot better and scoring goals a lot easier than they are now. Suarez looked frustrated tonight, Iniesta continues to struggle and Rakitic is still adapting.

And can someone other than Messi start taking penalties? He kinda has a habit of choking with high pressure penalties...
 

Alik

Moderator
Ok here's my thoughts on the game:

Messi was not involved enough in the first half. It improved in the second half but not enough. But whenever he had the ball it would mostly end in a chance. He was more isolated and wasn't receiving the ball enough.

Suarez was poor. Poorer than usual. He broke down a number of our attacks due to his poor touch.

On the bright side, I feel Rakitic played well. He defended well and created some good chances with his passing. Iniesta also did great, his ball retention is getting back to his best.

Our backline was very solid. Atletico didn't have a chance there.

I think that penalty on Busquets was rather soft but given our track record it's about time we've had a call go our way. Especially since Atletico had a much softer touch by Messi being called a penalty in our previous game with them.

Overall, we started off brightly but petered out in the first half. Same thing in the second half.

We played well, not that great comparing to league game, but Atleti had adjusted their tactics, played to get a draw and not to concede.

Agreed.
 

putogusiluz8

The Pale One
One thing i craved was that we'd move the ball around quicker, way more fluidity. This was not a match for individual brilliance since atletico close too good for even the likes of MSN to get through that's my only complaint really. Atletico came here looking for a scoreless draw of you ask me, and they were on their way to do it hadn't it not been for that penalty. Hope we learn from this match and adjust just as they adjusted to us. This is why always say styles, forms of playing, are all eventually flawed and get found out. The key is constantly adjusting, changeful and unpredictable. Be like water my friend hehe, i love that quote. Can't wait to see how we face up next time.
 

ebc_99

Active member
Sloppy. Unconvincing.

Again, this isn't last year's atletico's.

I see this as more of them getting weaker and tired overall than us getting stronger.

That's not going to cut it against better teams.

I think you are being a bit harsh on both teams, Atletico showed against Real that they are still one of the best teams in Europe and we have definitely improved. I don't know who the better teams you are talking about as I can think of only Bayern and possibly Real who would gives us a tougher game than Atletico.

I think we played well and stopped Atletico from creating any real opportunities and created a few ourselves. I don't think we are too far off the standard needed to win the Champions League, we just need to improve in a few areas.
 
Team played well and was great to see Iniesta inside opponents box without getting a nosebleed.
Seen enough of Suarez now to know he's not good enough and nowhere near the cash we paid for him.
 
L

linetty

Guest
I can't really compain... Atleti was super defensive again...that's fucking fugly football but that's how they play and as long as we win I'm glad.

Suarez though...had he scored after Rakitic's pass earlier this would have been a different story altogether.

Man, I can't stand Pathetico.
 

pacp_96

Chief Of Footballing Matters
Happy with that game. Managed to break down an Atletico bus which we couldn't do last season so that's a real positive. Atletico will have to attack more in the next leg so hopefully that will open them up.
 

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