Barcelona Aim to Maintain Their Hex over Atletico Madrid

Saturday May 17, 2014 was a watershed. When Diego Godin’s backpost header from—inevitably—a Gabi corner hit the net at the Camp Nou, propelling Atletico Madrid to a first La Liga title in 18 years at the expense of their hosts Barcelona, it set in motion a chain of events that would change the landscape of Spanish club football.

It was a goal that defined so much for Atleti. They were heartbroken, of course, when Godin’s next header didn’t prove to be a winner, with Sergio Ramos’ last-ditch equaliser in the UEFA Champions League final at Estadio da Luz paving the way for Real Madrid to run roughshod over their exhausted neighbours on the road to "La Decima" (their 10th European title—another, more long-anticipated high watermark for the Spanish game).

Yet they were already winners. They were not merely plucky underdogs, a force to be reckoned with, ones for the future, gallant losers or any equivalent. They were champions, and deserved ones at that.

The indignity of being relieved of their title crown on their own pitch did something to Barcelona, too. In a blunt, global sense, it’s like the extra competition provoked them into becoming bigger and better than ever before, much as Borussia Dortmund did to Bayern Munich by winning successive Bundesligas in 2011 and 2012. Atleti had their hand, essentially, in helping to spawn a new, "SuperBarca."

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In terms of direct confrontation, the jolt and consequence is clear enough. Having knocked Barca out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage a month before their Camp Nou coup (keeping the Catalans to just a single goal across two legs) on their way to Lisbon, Atleti have barely been able to lay a glove on them since.

The pair have played six times in all competitions since that final-day drama—four times in La Liga and twice in a two-legged Copa del Rey quarter-final tie—and Barca have won the lot. There is a sense that the current champions have found Atleti out in a way that El Real have singularly failed to do; the Bernabeu club have lost four and drawn two of their own previous six against Los Colchoneros in La Liga.

The Barcelona that fell at the last against Atleti, in 2013-14 under Tata Martino (which seems like a lifetime ago now), has to be judged in isolation. It was a failed experiment of having an outsider at the helm, albeit with ideas that were ostensibly compatible with the club’s ethos and a not-insignificant kinship with Lionel Messi.

From there, things got worse before they got better for Barca, with widespread reports in Spain as recently as 15 months ago suggesting that Luis Enrique’s own, far-less-friendly relationship with the team’s primary icon was set to cost him his job (as reported here by ESPN FC).

Their rise from the brink of internal schism to the imperious outfit that took apart a valiant Juventus in last year’s Champions League final in Berlin is one of the most compelling and rapid ascensions in modern European football.

Dealing with Atleti was never a problem in the midst of all this. Barca’s Copa del Rey victories over them last January were in the eye of the Messi-gate storm. These ties, and especially the second leg at the Vicente Calderon, illustrated in bold exactly why Diego Simeone’s side failed to maintain the chokehold on Barca that they have on El Real.

Trailing 1-0 from the first match in Catalonia, Atleti had the best possible start to the second in the capital. Fernando Torres wiped out Barca’s lead 46 seconds into the return at the Calderon but were cooked by half-time, with Neymar’s brace and a Miranda own goal either side of a Raul Garcia penalty for the hosts putting the visitors 3-2 up—and home and dry, especially after Gabi was sent off just after the whistle went for the interval.

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It was an exciting spectacle but a jarring one for seasoned Atletico watchers. It was the rare sight of Simeone’s side losing control, going for the jugular far too early instead of relying on the slow burn. If Atleti gave notice that they wanted to evolve into something more expansive, this was fair warning that they shouldn’t be so quick to turn their backs on their grit-and-grind roots.

The match served notice of two things to Barcelona: If Barca could hold their own nerve, Atleti would struggle to deny them forever, and also the potential for Atleti’s players to perhaps become frustrated with their self-imposed limitations.

This has particular relevance going into the first leg of this week’s latest confrontation. Having began the season with a wealth of new attacking talent, including Luciano Vietto, Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco and the already-departed Jackson Martinez, it was a little deflating for the neutral to see the same old, relentlessly effective Atletico, led by their imperious and impervious defence.  

The shackles have come off in recent weeks. Atleti belted Real Betis 5-1 on Saturday afternoon and have scored 15 times in their last five Liga games, representing nearly a third of their season’s total (they still have comfortably the best rearguard in La Liga, of course, with just 15 conceded).

So are a more daring Atletico arriving in Barcelona ripe for the taking by a team hurting from their own loss on Saturday, in El Clasico? They shouldn’t be, especially as Real Madrid won at the weekend largely by doing a passable impression of their less-celebrated neighbours. Atletico must remember what they’re good at. Los Merengues’ second-half display at Camp Nou was one of enviable control and desire anyway, and it is surely a template for any team with genuine ambitions of knocking Barcelona over.

It’s not hard to believe, if Simeone adopts a similar 4-3-3 (4-5-1 when defending), that Atleti can offer plenty of substance in the face of club football’s most dangerous side. Starting from the front, there will be plenty of industry, led by Fernando Torres, whom Simeone has already confirmed will start (reported here by El Pais, in Spanish).

With Ferreira-Carrasco and the prolific Antoine Griezmann to flank him, there will be both perspiration and inspiration. Simeone will feel like there’s a score to settle, with Atleti competing well in January’s corresponding La Liga fixture despite the handicap of finishing with nine men.

Yet Barca have been pressed to respond to a challenge once again, even if it wasn’t Atleti who did the prodding this time. It is clear that they will pursue the match this week with considerably more intensity than they did on Saturday. Simeone and Co. will have to be even better prepared than ever before if they are to end their Barca hex.