FC Barcelona climbed to second spot on the LaLiga table after defeating Atletico Madrid 3-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium on Sunday night.
Raphinha returned from injury and partnered Atletico loanee Joao Felix and Robert Lewandowski in the Barcelona, while neither Antoine Griezmann and Memphis Depay started for Atletico despite their midweek heroics.
Barcelona came slow out of the blocks and nearly trailed when Rodrigo De Paul intercepted a stray pass to set up Pablo Barrios on the edge of the box, but he pulled his effort wide.
The host continued to pile up the pressure later on and had Jules Kounde tracking back to make a timeous block to deny Nahuel Molina profiting from Riquelme’s cross-field pass.
It was the Blaugrana who grabbed the lead though as Lewandowski directed a first-time cutback into the path of Felix who drilled a deft finish beyond Jan Oblak against his parent club.
Well-travelled striker Alvaro Morata should’ve levelled on the cusp of halftime from a nicely laid knockdown by De Paul, but he volleyed over the top.
Morata didn’t come out for the second half and was replaced by Depay while Samuel Lino stepped out to see Griezmann introduced.
However, the offensive changes didn’t yield positivity as Barca doubled the lead two minutes in when Lewandowski held off one challenge to get onto Raphinha’s clever pass and fired in off the far post.
Barca soon needed a string of saves from Ter Stegen to parry Marcos Llorente’s half-volley from Griezmann’s set-up and the follow-up effort from Depay too.
The Blaugrana made the points safe when Lewandowski drilled a pin-point cross into the middle of the area, where Fermin Lopez was on hand to steer a powerful header into the back of the net.
Atletico continued to chase shadows in stoppage time and finished with ten players after Molina brought down Vitor Roque and got his marching orders, leaving Barca to a comprehensive win.
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