“Campeones, campeones, campeones!”, were the chants of around 90,000 people inside the Camp Nou as Lionel Messi basically passed the ball into the net behind Jan Oblak, making it a two-nil victory for Barcelona over Atlético Madrid. And just like that, the door is slammed shut for Diego Simeone as his team plunges to an 11-point deficit in La Liga, having experienced yet another loss against the Catalans.
And the Argentine coach is no stranger to those. In his 15 attempts so far in his career, Simeone has never beaten Barcelona in the domestic league. But nothing is mathematically over just yet, and even with this defeat this late in the campaign, Atlético Madrid can still hope for a miraculous comeback.
This tactical analysis will use statistics to determine how the resilient away troops almost weathered the storm in Catalunya, only to fall short to some late-game magic by Barcelona’s finest.
Lineups
Barcelona (4-3-3)
Starting XI: Ter Stegen Sergi, Piqué, Lenglet, Alba Rakitić, Busquets, Arthur Messi, Suárez, Coutinho
Bench: Cillessen, Murillo, Semedo, Umtiti, Aleñá, Boateng, Malcom
Coach: Ernesto Valverde
Atlético Madrid (4-4-2)
Starting XI: Oblak Arias, Giménez, Godín, Filipe Luís Koke, Thomas, Rodrigo, Saúl Costa, Griezmann
Bench: Adán, Juanfran, Savić, Vitolo, Correa, Kalinić, Morata
Coach: Diego Simeone
Barcelona’s setup
There were some initial reports saying that Ernesto Valverde could prioritise the Champions League clash against Manchester United so much, that he might sacrifice this potential title-winning match at the Camp Nou. Suffice it to say that no such thing happened this Saturday evening.
Barcelona very much fielded their strongest XI in their usual formation. We wondered whether Valverde would go down the more defensive-minded or the offensive-minded route and he ended up choosing the latter option. Philippe Coutinho was chosen as the third man up front with Luis Suárez and Lionel Messi, while Sergi Roberto got the nod in front of Nélson Semedo.
The Catalans operated in a 4-4-2
