Barcelona

Barcelona have a fantastic chance to build a gap atop the Spanish top flight as they visit Atletico Madrid in a Sunday La Liga showdown.

95 mins to kickoff: The Blaugrana are struggling for defenders at the moment thanks to a few injuries. Diego Simeone has a number of players to choose from in midfield, one of the more fascinating lineup situations on either side of this match. BARCELONA!] In a choppy match, a few seconds of fluidity pays off for Barcelona and they take the lead. 31st min: Atletico Madrid have their first chance of the match, but it's covered well by a pair of Barcelona defenders and Marcos Llorente's shot is blocked by Ronald Araujo. The Frenchman makes an awkward turn, contorting his body near the top of the area, and while his shot is on frame, it's central, and the Barcelona goalkeeper can parry it out for a corner. On the ensuing corner, Reinildo gets his head to it but doesn't get the precision right, redirecting the ball past the far post, needing a bit more of an acute angle to get it on net. Xavi makes a gesture to the bench and gives some instructions to his assistants, causing a stir on the Barcelona bench. It's fizzed in from the right flank, and Griezmann is right there on the penalty spot to redirect it on goal, but its sent to the moon. 90+1 min: Finally the hosts have a great move forward, but it comes to nothing, and the official waves away the protests for a penalty! It felt unfair at first as Savic was shown red, but after giving it a real thought and maybe taking word in his ear from his officiating team, Torres is rightly sent to the showers as well. It's a disappointing evening from both sides, but moreso for the hosts as they were extremely wasteful in front of goal and now sit outside the La Liga's top four. After putting in a sensational four weeks in Qatar, Griezmann has returned to the club level and fallen flat, with today's performance a perfect example of his failings since.

The first major Spanish clash of 2023 and one of La Liga's richest ended in victory for Barcelona. Away to Atlético Madrid, coach Xavi's men climbed three ...

But with a coveted title attainable for the Blaugrana and the status and financial rewards that Champions League soccer brings at stake for Atlético—this was an occasion to speed up or slow down momentum going into the definitive second half of La Liga this 2023. For Atlético—hitting its head against the wall under Simeone—there is plenty of work ahead to rediscover its best self. As expected in the second period, Atlético peppered the Barcelona goal. How long that lasts is unknown and will be pivotal in the race for silverware. Each known to hemorrhage and earn considerable sums, Atlético versus Barcelona arguably makes for Spanish soccer’s most money-focused fixture—and that provided part of the backdrop for this intriguing contest. The first major Spanish clash of 2023, and one of La Liga’s richest, ended in victory for Barcelona.

Neither Perez nor Laporta are here to say anything, but to be seen offering joint support as Reichert claims the Super League is “not dead”, despite a European ...

Another anecdote has Rosell being insulted by Madrid fans near the Bernabeu’s VIP zone, and Perez arranging for those season-ticket holders involved to be moved permanently to another part of the stadium. Perez and Laporta also had cordial relations during their respective first terms, even as the tensions between fans, pundits and players intensified — for example, when Figo returned to Camp Nou as a Madrid player. [Manchester City](https://theathletic.com/football/team/manchester-city/) beat Real Madrid and Barcelona to top Deloitte’s Money League for the first time last year with a revenue of €644.9million in 2021 — up 17 per cent from 2020. [told The Athletic](https://theathletic.com/2424582/2021/03/08/they-are-looking-for-a-miracle-laporta-back-at-barcelona-and-what-it-means/) almost two years ago. Tebas’ mandate since his election in 2013 has been to protect the interests of smaller top-flight and second-tier clubs who historically felt pushed around by the big two. Barcelona instead did a similar standalone deal last summer, although with different financial details, with US financiers Sixth Street, which brought in €517million to fill holes in the club’s finances. At October’s club AGM he claimed the Super League would be “a more equal competition, an open league, based on meritocracy and respecting the state leagues” and predicted the European courts would decide UEFA is a monopoly which must be broken up. The Athletic was told the political situation meant no other European clubs would even play them in a friendly last summer. Figo’s betrayal caused anguish in Barcelona — symbolised by the pig’s head (and coins and golf balls) being thrown at the Portugal winger when he went back to Barca’s Camp Nou stadium as a Madrid player. But events have driven them together, and these two historic rivals have become intertwined in a new love story which has huge consequences for the future of Spanish and European football. The same idea was wrapped up in Barca’s ‘Mes que un club’ — More than a club — motto. Both sides seemed to revel in their differences — the liberal Catalan freedom fighters against Madrid’s protectors of conservative Spanish values.

Barcelona took advantage of an opening that Real Madrid left at the top of LaLiga and beat Atletico Madrid to move up.

[Pedri](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/250465/Pedri) and [Gavi](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/323702/Gavi) linked to create chances for the forwards, with [Ansu Fati](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/292957/Ansu-Fati) missing two before Dembele finally broke the deadlock. We had more control in the second half and even though we had to summer, we picked up three really important points." Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets on moving up on the LaLiga table: "We knew Madrid had slipped up at Villarreal and it was an opportunity we had to take -- and we did. Then, Barca head to Ceuta for the Copa del Rey on Wednesday, Jan. He is still lacking that extra bit of quality and consistency that Xavi says will make him one of the best players in the world. His pace then proved Barca's best -- and pretty much only -- outlet in the second half as Atletico pushed for an equaliser. He joins Atletico's Griezmann as the only player in LaLiga with five or more goals and 5 or more assists this season. [Jan Oblak](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/149622/Jan-Oblak) in the 22nd minute after good work from [Pedri](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/250465/Pedri) and [Gavi](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/323702/Gavi) to cap Barca's lively start with a goal. The game took a turn from there, though, with Atletico in control and Barca under pressure. Atletico woke up after falling behind and [Jose Maria Gimenez](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/188398/José-María-Giménez) came close with a header before [Antoine Griezmann](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/140416/Antoine-Griezmann) forced a fine save from goalkeeper [Marc-Andre ter Stegen](http://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/140740/Marc-André-ter-Stegen). [Robert Lewandowski](https://www.espn.com/soccer/player/_/id/125824/Robert-Lewandowski) worked well early on. [Barcelona](/soccer/team?id=83) returned from the World Cup break in sloppy form.

Playing without Robert Lewandowski wasn't so bad for Barcelona after all. Barcelona overcame the absence of its top striker to win 1-0 at Atlético Madrid ...

Forward Antoine Griezmann had a couple of good opportunities to equalize for Atlético but couldn’t capitalize on them at the Metropolitano stadium in the Spanish capital. Barcelona will now travel to Saudi Arabia to play in the Spanish Super Cup along with Madrid, Real Betis and Valencia. It hadn’t won since a 1-0 victory at Mallorca in October. “We have to keep adding points at the top.” Madrid had lost 2-1 at Villarreal on Saturday for its second league loss of the season. Dembélé scored with a low shot from close range after a set up by Gavi Páez in the 22nd minute.

Pedri excelled in a new position for FC Barcelona on Sunday, as the Catalans beat Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano and extended their points lead at the ...

And though his pass after slaloming by a number of Atleti players on the edge of the box failed to meet Gavi directly, the 18-year-old's rough shaking off of his marker paved the way for Gavi to set up Ousmane Dembele's 22nd-minute winner which guaranteed victory. Pedri also relished his new role. While it wasn't his most polished display with the final ball often lacking and failing to meet its target, the stats show that Pedri still put in a strong display on both sides of the ball which was vital for Barca sealing one of their biggest wins of a title-challenging season.