Article by Ally White
League leader Barcelona ended an unbeaten streak this Sunday, in the 22nd round of the Spanish League, right after dropping two-one towards Atletico Madrid. Actual Madrid, which crushed Xerez 3- on Saturday, cut the distance from Barca to just two factors. Barcelona maintains the lead with fifty five factors, whilst Genuine Madrid is just behind with 53 points.
Barcelona now has 3 consecutive defeats in its visits to the Vicente Calderon Stadium. The team’s final these defeat was during a decisive league sport, just over a year in the past, when it lost versus Atletico four-3.
This time, from the 1st minutes of the sport, the nearby staff pressed a Culé group that appeared weakened with the understanding that the finest guys weren’t in the lower zone. This lack was apparent in diverse moments of the game, and the whole scenario grew to become a lot more problematic for Barcelona when, at moment seven, Malian Seydou Keita was injured.
Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid gamers were at the best of their sport, easily outdoing Guardiola’s crew. Argentina’s Aguero and Diego Forlan commanded the offense of the rojiblanco team.
It didn’t get prolonged right up until the locals, at minute nine, sent the crowd of Vicente Calderon into an fired up frenzy. Forlan took advantage of an open room pass from José Antonio Reyes in front of goalkeeper Victor Valdes, crossing the ball to send the score to an early one-. The Catalan’s defense exhibited tiny coordination for the duration of the out of location play.
Later on, Sergio Aguero had a excellent possibility in his rival’s area, but instead of shooting, he sent the ball for a teammate and the Culé defense cleared the ball.
Atletico continued pressing in the offense and lastly extended its lead at moment 23, when Simao Sabrosa scored in a free of charge kick. He placed the ball in the proper facet of the submit coated by Valdes, to put the score two- in favor of the Rojiblancos.
The connection amongst Barca strikers Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic took time to produce danger for David De Gea’s goal however, Barcelona ultimately got again into the game at minute 27. Ibrahimovic appeared with no defense in the place, acquired a corner kick from Xavi Hernandez, and sent the ball to the bottom of the net. Barca was back in the battle for victory.
In the second half, the tone of the game was the identical. In the opening minutes, Aguero and Forlan highlighted the failures of the visitors’ defense. Barca’s defense counted on the participation of Maxwell, Gabriel Milito, Carles Puyol, and Bolton Wanderers, who was replaced by more youthful player Marc Bartra.
Later on, at moment 56, with a great person play from Aguero, Atletico arrived nearer to extending its lead. Even so, the left shot was saved by Victor Valdes, who was evidently upset with his teammates for their lax defensive plays.
Barcelona was left floundering at the conclude, and forwards Messi, Hernandez, and Iniesta had been unable to add more goals despite their redoubled efforts for a draw.
In the finish, the sport completed in favor of Atletico Madrid, 2-one.
At the conclusion of the sport, Barca coach Pep Guardiola praised Atletico’s perform and mentioned that, although his gamers place in a very good effort, they couldn’t discover their sport.
“I would like to congratulate Atletico on a excellent game. They had been really nicely organized although we were not at our greatest and did not get our passing rhythm going. I say practically nothing in opposition to our players since they did their very best but we have been not on our game. When we lost the ball we did not place ourselves effectively,” stated Guardiola
Barcelona’s subsequent game will be versus Racing Santander on February 20st although Atletico Madrid will encounter Almeria as guests on February 21st.
About the Author
Ally White has been a prominent writer on day-to-day Spanish League Soccer sports activities news and the sportsbetting marketplace for many excellent sport web sites. You might reprint this article in its complete subject material, make sure you note no modifications to it are accepted.