Ranking Barcelona performances from their awesome annihilation of Atleti
Atlético Madrid 0-3 Barcelona - La Liga
January 8, 2023: Barcelona beat Atlético Madrid 0-1 at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Atleti then go on a 25 match unbeaten run at home in La Liga, including a ridiculous 23 wins (one over Real Madrid), building a fearsome reputation in their new stadium.
March 17, 2024: Barcelona return to the Wanda Metropolitano and annihilate Atlético Madrid 0-3 in a devastating and dazzling display of football.
Both sides came into the clash off the back of big wins against Italian teams in the Champions League, but last night the match was almost predictably one-sided. Atleti’s form was intimidating but ultimately the win was Xavi’s fifth straight over Diego Simeone, with a fourth consecutive clean sheet as well.
The performance was about as perfect as you can get, with all of the starters playing well (and the subs being adequate). So much so that the best way to discuss the game is to rank the performances against each other, because when you dominate the opponent as thoroughly as Barça did, your only competition is yourself!
D Tier
Oriol Romeu, Iñigo Martinez and Marc Casado
Most of Barcelona’s subs were fine. They didn’t really add anything to the game but they didn’t subtract from the team’s performance either. 97 Passes figures that puts them solidly in D Tier. A low passing grade.
Sergi Roberto
Barcelona’s captain was a game-changing presence off the bench against Napoli last midweek. Yesterday he was much less impactful from the start, just sort of neat and tidily going about his business. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t notably good either.
C Tier
Lamine Yamal
The youngest of Barcelona’s teenage sensations received some much-needed rest after his delightful performances of late. He came off the bench just after the hour and while he didn’t impact the score sheet, his mere presence carried so much weight that Atleti had to defend him with more purpose than they did Raphinha, and that opened up space for others — earning him a spot in C Tier.
Vitor Roque
The bare minimum for a striker coming off the bench should always be “make the defenders lives more inconvinient” and Vitor Roque managed just that. It was his direct run in behind the Atleti defence that forced Nahuel Molina as the last man to haul him down, prompting Atleti’s late red.
João Felix
If Diego Simeone wasn’t already sick of the sight of João Felix when he sent him packing on loan to Barcelona last September, after two goals in two games he’ll definitely be sick of him now!
João Felix didn’t really do much of anything against Atleti at the Wanda, which matches his recent form and explains why he’s been on the bench lately. But Xavi started him because this game means more to him, and for sure when he got his chance he took it, slotting Barcelona into an 18th minute lead.
Raphinha
As always, Raphinha was a hurricane of movement and running. Not all of it was good, but it was all there. The Brazilian can never be accused of a lack of effort and his press was relentless. But he mostly used the ball poorly and the lack of presence he has is palpable when you see how no defender respects his skill enough to back off when he has the ball. They go in tight because they know they can get the ball off him.
Still, he produced a delicious scooped assist for Lewandowski’s goal, so top of C Tier.
B Tier
Fermin Lopez
Commentators like to trumpet that Fermin Lopez was playing in the Spanish fourth division last season as a way to illustrate how far he’s come. And he surely has, but also it’s easy to see that he was playing in the fourth division last season.
Tactically Fermin is a consummate La Masia fancy boy. He knows where to stand, where and when to run, he gets it. In terms of work-rate he’s also relentless with his pressing, as we saw yesterday when he forced Rodrigo de Paul into the error that led to Barcelona’s second goal. Of course when he gets played the ball in tight spaces or key moments his lower technical level becomes all too apparent.
“Christensen had pain in his Achilles during warmups and we didn’t want to take any chances.” — Xavi
The one exception to this is finishing. If you need Fermin to fire off a shot at goal, whether with left-foot, right-foot or head, he can and will do it. He did it to Napoli, and he did it to Atleti last night heading home the dagger third goal.
It was an incredible way to follow up his goal against Napoli in the Champions League, especially when you consider he only started due to Christensen pulling up injured in the warm-up. Fermin would rank way higher but beyond his goal he spent much of the game making terrible use of the ball and wasting so many chances.
So, B Tier.
Héctor Fort
17 year-old Héctor Fort had to step in for João Cancelo who couldn’t make the game. And just as he did when he replaced the Portuguse at San Mamés, Fort made light work of what is one of the toughest away grounds in Spain.
Fort is a powerful, rugged defender who genuinely offers more protection than Cancelo does (albeit with just a fraction of the attacking genius). He was so solid whenever Atleti tested him, until cramp took him down and they began getting joy. Still, he played on through the pain until Barcelona could sub him. A warrior.
“Hector Fort was brilliant. It’s not his position, but he doesn’t complicate himself. He plays easily, with personality, without fear and with a desire to succeed. That’s the key.” — Xavi
A Tier
Marc-André Ter Stegen
Ter Stegen kept his fourth-straight clean sheet in La Liga at the Wanda Metropolitano, but he wasn’t massively tested as the men in front of him played so superbly. However he gets into A Tier because he finally made one of his superhuman “Hair Stegen” saves, diving down to his right to palm away a rasping shot then rising to his feet to block the rebound. He truly earned this clean sheet!
“A very complicated match, winning here is very difficult. We achieved it in a spectacular way.” — Marc-André Ter Stegen
Pau Cubarsi
Barcelona’s baby boy of the back-line was once again sublime. #CuBaresi showed no fear of Atleti’s front-line and was once again just nervelessly brilliant. Whether he had to handle himself physically, be positioned correctly or intervene with technical defensive excellence; he did it all to more than justify his call-up to the Spanish national side, albeit Barcelona fans now have to worry that Luis de la Fuente will do to him what he has already done to Pedri and Gavi.
Ronald Araujo
All the plaudits will go to Pau Cubarsi because a 17 year-old centre-back being as good as he is, is, well, kind of bananas. But the main man of Barcelona’s defence is still Ronald Araujo.
On a handful of occasions Atleti used pace and quick movement of the ball to escape Cubarsi or another defender, and that’s when Araujo appeared from nowhere like the flipping Ghost Rider does in the presence of evil and crushed the attack with ease.
“It was a perfect match in the positional game, in attacking spaces. In defense we have also been very good, because they have barely created any chances for us. It is an almost perfect match, for what we are looking for.” — Xavi
Jules Kounde
After struggling for months with what was surely a continuation of his Autumn knee injury, Jules Kounde has looked back to his best for a while now. Last night at the Wanda Metropolitano was the latest in a long line of magnificent displays from the French centre-back who doesn’t like to play right-back but is actually much better suited to playing right-back than centre-back.
Kounde was excellent against Atleti. Rugged in the tackle, daring on the dribble and fearless to drive the ball forward. His powerful run led directly to Barcelona’s dagger third goal and he is warming up for his Champions League showdown with Kylian Mbappé as well as anyone possibly can.
S Tier
Ilkay Gundogan
It’s impossible to explain how good Ilkay Gundogan is, really, except to say that Pedri has spent most of this season injured and Barcelona have more or less managed to keep on going in his absence. The German’s absence at Manchester City is also fairly notable by Pep Guardiola’s men seemingly unable to kick themselves into their usual post-Christmas form where they mow down everyone in sight.
Barcelona will be delighted with how well he’s been playing, with Sunday night at the Wanda Metropolitano being yet another masterclass in how to dominate a game. From the first whistle to the last, Gundogan’s touch and awareness of space was levels above anyone else on the field. Even when played in a less comfortable deeper role, he excelled at navigating the Atleti press and moving the ball up the field.
“What a game! Very happy about our clinical performance today. Let's continue like this after the international break.” — Ilkay Gundogan
And when he got the ball in the final third? Oh buddy, it was beautiful. Barcelona’s opening goal was scored and set-up by people other than Gundogan but it was the German’s control and quick feet to skip by Atleti defenders and feed the ball into the box that made it possible. That was the highlight, for sure, but Gundogan played the entire game at that level, running midfield by himself for basically the whole game.
Barcelona’s signing of the season.
Robert Lewandowski
Ultimately, you can play all the nice football you want but it’s meaningless if you don’t stick the ball in the back of the net. Barcelona know this pain more acutely than most in 2023/24 as, despite having the highest xG in La Liga they are not the top scorers. In fact, Barcelona are the only team in the top half of La Liga to undershoot their xG.
A large part of that is Robert Lewandowski, who is the only player in the top 7 scorers of 2023/24 to undershoot his own personal xG (a league-high 15.2 coming into this weekend). In the first-half of the season he just wasn’t as prolific as he should have been, which has contributed heavily towards Barça’s struggles.
“I think Robert Lewandowski today played maybe the best game since he came as a player. He dominate the long-balls, he made the third-man run perfect.” — Xavi
However he has 11 goals across all competitions since the turn of the year and is in genuinely good form at long last. His performance at the Wanda Metropolitano may in fact be the best he’s delivered for Barcelona yet, and while he did excel in link-play and pressing and all those good things, the main reason for it being so good is because he made sure they stuck the ball into the back of the net.
First he made a great run and then, instead of forcing a shot from a tight angle, he slipped it smartly to the side for João Felix to tap home.
Then at the start of the second-half he doubled Barcelona’s lead. Fermin pressed Rodrigo de Paul to turn it over to Raphinha who lofted a nice pass through for Lewandowski. The Pole’s first touch got him through the defence but took him wide. Too wide, it seemed. But Lewandowski rolled back the years, twisted his body around the ball and clipped it into the back of the net. A truly outrageous finish!
Lewandowski would have doubled his lead later when Fermin Lopez missed a huge chance to loft an easy cross in for the Pole to head home. The youngster fluffed his lines, so later in the game when Lewandowski found himself out wide, he showed Fermin how it’s done and lofted a pinpoint cross into the box to get his second assist of the night for the dagger third goal.
Two assists and one goal meant Lewandowski is the first player in La Liga to register both a goal and assist during a single game away to Atlético Madrid since Cristiano Ronaldo did it in 2016!
“The important thing is the team. They are kicking me out because of the gestures I make, I didn't say anything at all. For me the expulsion was unnecessary and unfair, but we must accept it.” — Xavi
That goal and those assists gave Barcelona’s beautiful football the bite it has so often been lacking this season, making sure that the Blaugrana survived the hellish atmosphere and questionable refereeing (including a red card for Xavi) to claim for themselves an enormous victory while simultaneously delivering Atleti’s heaviest-ever defeat at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Nothing but S Tier.
If Robert Lewandowski can keep scoring and assisting at this level for the rest of the season? Don’t rule out a big finish from Barcelona.