Atletico Madrid vs. Barcelona: Winners and Losers from La Liga Game
Barcelona won its third straight game to start the La Liga season on Saturday as it came from behind to defeat Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.
Neymar and Lionel Messi answered Fernando Torres' 52nd-minute opener with a goal each to place Barca into first place in the league table. Barcelona sit two points ahead of Real Madrid through three matches.
Although Barca left Madrid with plenty of positives, it also returned home with a key injury in defense. As for Atleti, it showed signs of life, but it was overmatched after Messi entered in the 60th minute.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from Barca's 2-1 win over Atleti.
Winner: Luis Enrique
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Luis Enrique caught everyone's attention before the match began when he left Lionel Messi on the bench due to his lack of practice time.
The move could've easily backfired on Enrique against one of his two major competitors for the La Liga title, but the 11 men he put out on the pitch kept the game level until the 52nd minute.
Luckily for Enrique, he didn't have to go straight to Messi after the Atleti goal since Neymar struck a beautiful free kick into the back of the net in the 55th minute.
When he did bring Messi on in the 60th minute, Enrique opted to rest Ivan Rakitic and move Rafinha back to midfield. That tactical move turned out to be a stroke of genius—just like his placement of Sergi Roberto at right back. Roberto had a solid game against Filipe Luis, Oliver Torres and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco.
Enrique will now have to find a way to get the best out of his limited squad on short rest as the Stadio Olimpico and Roma await on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League.
Loser: Jackson Martinez
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After scoring in the Sevilla match before the international break, Jackson Martinez remained on the bench for the clash with Barca at the Vicente Calderon.
Martinez finally entered in the 61st minute, but he did not make a positive impression on the match, as he touched the ball 11 times and only mustered one shot on goal.
That shot on goal came in the 84th minute after he displayed plenty of quality pulling down Antoine Griezmann's pass with his chest. However, the shot was weak compared to the skillful setup at the top of the box.
On top of failing to thrive in his substitute role, Martinez lost ground in the race for the starting lineup to Atleti's lone scorer on Saturday, Fernando Torres.
Winner: Fernando Torres
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During his 61 minutes on the pitch, Fernando Torres impressed up top for the home side.
The Spaniard's best moment of the match came in the 52nd minute, when he knocked Tiago's pass into the back of the net with his right foot.
In addition to scoring his first goal of the season, Torres also attempted the most shots of any player at the Vicente Calderon with six. Although most of his attempts were off target, Torres did display confidence when approaching the net.
If Torres starts to heat up in front of goal, Diego Simeone might be able to ease Martinez into the rigorous schedule before looking to switch up his starting lineup.
Loser: Thomas Vermaelen
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The Barcelona back four suffered a rough blow in the first half when Thomas Vermaelen limped off the pitch.
The center back, who missed the majority of last season with an injury, pulled up lame as he began to jump on a corner kick. Once the set piece was over, Vermaelen signaled to the bench to make a change and limped straight down the tunnel.
Vermaelen's injury came at a rough time for the Catalan side since their first venture into the UEFA Champions League is Wednesday. The defensive depth was already weak at the club, but now they will probably be stretched thinner.
The most likely starting pair at center back for the Roma match on Wednesday will be pair Javier Mascherano and Jeremy Mathieu, but after those two, there are few options for Luis Enrique to choose from.
Winner: Neymar
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Fresh off a two-goal performance for Brazil against the United States on Tuesday, Neymar produced a ton of quality on his first league strike of the season.
Neymar lifted his free kick from outside the penalty area into the left side of the net and out of the reach of the lanky Jan Oblak in the Atleti net.
The goal, which came three minutes after Torres' opener, took all of the life out of the Vicente Calderon, and it gave Barca a necessary boost in attack minutes before the entrance of Messi.
After Messi came into the contest, the Barca front three combined for plenty of moves in the final third that put the Atleti back line under pressure.
If Barca are able to respond like they did on Saturday through Neymar's goal, they will be a hard side to break down for 90 minutes all season.
Winner: Lionel Messi
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Barca was already taking control of the match in the minutes leading up to Messi's introduction. Once the Argentinian entered the pitch, Barca raised its game to another level, dominated the possession battle and created the majority of the chances.
Messi benefited from the uptick in play in the 77th minute, when he finished off a brilliant move started by Jordi Alba and continued by Luis Suarez. Alba played a nice ball over to Suarez, who tapped a pass over to Messi before the No. 10 poked home his first goal of the season.
Not only was the goal important to Messi because it came in the first game after the birth of his second son, it also helped keep him out of the doghouse in the race for the Pichichi.
If Messi failed to find the back of the net on the day Cristiano Ronaldo scored five for Real Madrid, there would've been a few questions lingering about his start to the season. Although Messi has some work to do to catch Ronaldo in the scoring race, he set a good tone for his chase on Saturday.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
All statistics obtained from WhoScored.com.
