Summary: Intercity - Barcelona 4:3 (Sport1)
Without Robert Lewandowski and against a tough and domestic opponent like Atlético Madrid, Barcelona achieved a small and critical victory of 0:1 last night (Sunday) and opened a gap of three points at the top.
Xavi's team didn't really impress, but Dembele's one goal in the first half and the excellent ability of Ter Stegen and Araujo in the center of the defense gave the Catalans their most impressive win of the season in the league considering the opponent and the circumstances.
It was the 12th league game this season out of 16 in which Stegen has kept a clean sheet.
Just for comparison, all of last season Ter Stegen only kept a clean sheet in 11 games out of 35. Barcelona conceded six goals in total - the fewest in all five major leagues.
In the extra time of the game, Fran Torres and Stefan Savic literally went to blows with each other and were sent off with a straight red.
According to the Catalan "Sport" both players are expected to receive suspension from several games following the red cards they received.
The best defense in Europe?
Conde, Araujo and Christensen (Photo: Reuters)
"We struggled a lot in the second half. We knew it would be a difficult game," Xavi said after the game, "but the most important thing is that we won and took 3 points. The idea was to control the game, but in the second half they controlled it. You can't always play well."
"There were very important players who didn't play," Xavi added, referring mainly to the suspended Lewandowski, "They made us suffer, but I'm leaving the stadium satisfied. We need to improve the game in general, we need more options when they press us high."
The coach also referred to his excellent defense and praised Andreas Christensen when he said: "His signing went under the radar, but he is amazing. I remember when we signed him people said that Real Madrid signed Chelsea's crying stopper (Rudiger) and we signed his replacement."
sport
world football
Spanish league
Tags
Barcelona in football
Xavi
Ronald Araujo