Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid: Raphinha and Olmo shine and Blaugrana defeat title rivals

Barcelona collected massive three points towards their title ambitions with a 3-1 victory against old foes Atletico Madrid at the recently reopened Camp Nou.

Atletico Madrid scored first through Alex Baena, slightly against the run of play. Barcelona responded with vim with goals from Raphinha, Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres scoring to secure the win.

With the victory, Barcelona are now four points clear of second place Real Madrid, until tomorrow, at least, when Los Blancos face Athletic Club. Atletico on the other hand, missed the chance to reduce the deficit on the leaders, and are now six points adrift.

Atlético drew first blood in the 19th minute from a long pass out of the back by Nahuel Molina to Alex Baena who timed his run perfectly to stay onside, collected the ball and slotted past Joan García to make it 1–0.

Barcelona’s response was immediate. Seven minutes later Pedri picked out Raphinha with a perfectly weighted pass; Raphinha’s first touch took him around Jan Oblak and rolled the ball into the empty net to level the scores.

The first half still held drama: Robert Lewandowski skied a penalty before the break, resulting from Pablo Barrios’s clumsy foul on Dani Olmo. The game stayed level at the interval allowing both sides regroup. 

Barcelona continue to press, and the decisive moment came in the 65th minute when a flowing Barcelona move ended with Dani Olmo finding a left-footed finish beyond Oblak to put his side 2–1 up. Sadly for the midfielder he fell awkwardly after the shot and was forced off with what looked like a shoulder injury shortly afterwards. 

As Atlético pushed for a late leveller they left openings at the back. In stoppage time, Alejandro Balde whipped in a left-side cross that found Ferran Torres, who slotted him to cap the comeback and settle the game at 3–1.