A dormant match came to life in the second half thanks to Fernando Torres’s strike, but Neymar’s wonderful free-kick and Lionel Messi’s brilliantly intricate combination with Luis Suárez for the winner wrestled the points away. Barcelona’s perfect start to the season continues and they top La Liga with nine points from three games. Real Madrid are second with seven points, with Atlético fifth with six. That’s all from me, thanks for reading. Bye!
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Full-time: Atlético Madrid 1-2 Barcelona
Peeep!
90+1 min: Koke hooks a hopeful ball into the box but it’s cleared easily by Mascherano. Another cross comes in from the right, this time by Juanfran, and Godín almost gets to it at the back post but can’t stretch enough, and that should be that.
90 min: Useless Messi hits his free-kick two or three goals higher than the crossbar.
89 min: Messi wriggles round Giménez with the ball glued to his feet and, after being tugged back just outside the box, wins a free-kick.
87 min: Messi tries a volley from 20 yards but it flies over the bar.
85 min: It’s only 2-1, remember, but Atlético appear done. That is until the ball comes into the box at chest height for Jackson Martínez to control, who spins Mascherano and hacks a shot into the ground which is too easy for Ter Stegen to catch.
Barcelona's front three currently purring like kittens sipping chocolate milk. Brilliant to watch.
— Sachin Nakrani (@SachinNakrani) September 12, 2015
Great decision to give Messi a go from the bench, maybe he's earned a start next week with that goal
— Rik Sharma (@riksharma_) September 12, 2015
81 min: Messi treats the near-silent Vicente Calderón to a lovely 50-yard jaunt forwards, skipping and riding and dancing around defenders, a stream of professional football millionaires lying on the floor behind him. Oh how lucky we are to live in the era of Messi.
GOAL! Atlético Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (Messi, 77)
Words. I needs words! Alba fizzes a low pass into Suárez who lays off the most delicate of touches for Messi to sprint on to, and despite every single Atlético defender realising the danger and charging to cover, they cannot prevent him from getting to the ball first and dinking into the corner from eight yards. It’s a brilliant and very Barcelona sort of goal.
75 min: When Atlético eventually do bumble forwards the ball runs for Tiago to hit on the edge of the box, and he puts the ball into orbit.
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73 min: Jackson Martínez tries to take a Griezmann pass in his stride but can’t do so. A collective groan ripples around the Vicente Calderón. Atlético cannot seem to get out of their half.
70 min: Not quite sure how that wasn’t a penalty. The Barcelona players nearby were raging. Anyway, Barça are in total control of the ball here. Iniesta and Messi are seeing lots of the ball in a pocket of space around 30 yards out, but are struggling to get closer.
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67 min: The crowd has been tempered a little, either by Neymar’s free-kick or Messi’s arrival – or both. Suddenly Messi slides a pass perfectly into the Brazilian’s sprint from the left and Neymar must score, but his shot is blocked by Godín’s hand... No penalty!
The amount of the ball that Messi's had already...
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) September 12, 2015
66 min: Messi feeds Neymar. He kills the ball, spins and lays it into Suárez who tries a first-time shot from the right of the area but slices across the ball and it dribbles harmlessly wide.
“Hi Lawrence,” emails Kári Tulinius. “It’s lovely seeing Torres back to his scoring ways. I was in a bar surrounded by Chelsea supporters that time Torres missed an open goal against Man Utd. The whole bar let out a laugh that turned into groan. For the longest time he seemed like he was past it, ironically while he was winning trophy after trophy. But now putting away chances again, and at his boyhood club, no less.”
63 min: Jackson Martínez replaces Fernando Torres.
62 min: Iniesta attempts to find Messi with an outrageous pass over the Atlético defence but it is a yard or two overhit and Oblak collects.
60 min: Rakitic is coming off, and here’s quite a good substitute. There haven’t been many occasions in recent years when Lionel Messi has come off the bench, but here’s one from 2005, when the greatest footballer of all-time announced himself with a little help from the greatest footballer on the planet at the time:
58 min: The first-time pass to Torres by Tiago was wonderful, and no Barça defender was near the striker as he sprinted on to it from around 25 yards out and slotted past Ter Stegen inside the box. But Neymar’s reply – just a perfect strike.
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GOAL! Atlético Madrid 1-1 Barcelona (Neymar, 55)
Oh this is delicious. Neymar steps up to a 25-yard free-kick, slightly to the left of goal, and bends the ball perfectly into the top left-hand corner a couple of inches inside the post, a couple of inches under the bar.
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GOAL! Atlético Madrid 1-0 Barcelona (Torres, 51)
Fernando Torres turns and dashes on to a first-time pass, and gets his shot away before Jordi Alba can make the saving tackle.
48 min: Atlético have re-started the more adventurous side and now the crowd is bristling. Torres tries to cross from the right but is blocked by Mascherano’s hand. It’s one of those where it definitely hits the flapping arm but is struck at very close range. No penalty given. Atlético fans aren’t happy, though.
“Poor old Vermaelen,” emails Charles Antaki. “He seems to have been infected with whatever it is in the Arsenal physio room that did for Abou Diaby; the club seems to have now fixed it, but that won’t be much consolation, one imagines.”
46 min: Óliver attacks from the off and dribbles into the Barça box unchallenged before skewing a shot wide of the far post.
Peeeep! We are back under way at the Vicente Calderón. Still Messi-less.
Half-time: Atlético Madrid 0-0 Barcelona
Not a classic, thus far. Luis Suárez should have scored but somehow managed to hit the crossbar from a couple of yards and Neymar had a reasonable shout for a penalty, while at the other end Fernando Torres might have tested Ter Stegen on a couple of occasions had his radar been working. Let’s hope for better in the second half. Let’s hope for Messi.
45 min: Iniesta trips Gabi. Yellow card. This is not entertaining. Bring on Messi. Please.
43 min: Former Chelsea starlet substitute Felipe Luis gives Rafinha a cheeky ankle tap and is booked.
41 min: This hasn’t been a particularly great half, and when Barça do break forward in a promising counterattack Koke tugs back Neymar to ruin everyone’s fun.
Neymar’s shimmy earlier was good, but not quite this good:
36 min: Koke gets on the ball – I had forgotten he was playing. He slips over and concedes possession.
34 min: Atlético are attacking. This looks promising. Interesting. But nope, nothing, and when Barça break Suárez lays the ball off to Neymar, who shimmies around one player and shoots but his effort appears to be blocked by an arm. No penalty awarded, but it probably should have been.
30 min: Atlético have all 11 players set up in their own half and seem happy to let Barça play in front of them. It’s a sensible enough plan as their visitors are struggling to break them down, but it doesn’t make great viewing.
28 min: This is bad luck for Thomas Vermaelen, who has worked hard over the last year to get himself fit enough to start this season. The Belgian pulls up with what looks like an injury to his susceptible hamstring, and hobbles off from the field and down the tunnel. He is replaced by Mathieu.
25 min: This is either a mind-boggling save or a mind-boggling miss. Rakitic’s corner is a delicious inswinger which is flicked on to Suárez, unmarked at the back post. The Uruguayan arrives to poke the ball home, surely, but somehow hits the bar from no more than two yards. Possibly, maybe, Oblak got a touch but it’s hard to tell.
24 min: Neymar takes a clattering from Gabi, who immediately stands up and does a fantastic ‘give me a break, ref!’ face. Barça work the ball left and win a corner.
23 min: Ummm. Diego Simeone is shouting at someone. That’s it.
20 min: It’s been a pretty messy start which Barcelona have controlled for the most part, but Atlético have had their moments – mainly when Barça have made mistakes.
18 min: Mascherano gets caught on the ball by Griezmann who turns and plays in Torres. He drives forward and unleashes a left-footed strike but it’s a bit high and bit wide.
16 min: Suárez goes down after a little collision like he’s been punched square on the nose, or bitten square on the nose. Either way, he seems fine and carries on, and moments later Barça have their first chance, Rakitic ghosting in at the back post unmarked and firing a high shot which Oblak parries away.
Messi on the bench?” emails Tanay Padhi. “Penny for Pedro’s thoughts...”
13 min: Barcelona are passing the ball around. Atlético are defending with typical sturdiness. The crowd whistle.
Re the kit clash, Joe Neate has my back: “Is it just me or are the kits too similar when watching on TV? It’s the back of the Atletico shirts that do it. Change at half time please, or one of them can go skins.”
11 min: It’s not an all-out kit clash, but Atlético are wearing red and white with some blue, and Barça are wearing red, blue with bits of yellow. Confusing.
9 min: Atlético counterattack but Griezmann’s through pass down the middle of the pitch was a little heavy for Torres to reach, and Ter Stegen collects, on his league debut.
6 min: Suárez chases an overhit Iniesta throughball with all his typical bundling enthusiasm and wins a corner for his efforts, but it’s cleared easily by Godín.
4 min: Rakitic weaves down the right and when he is eventually stopped, the ball falls invitingly for Suárez to whip in a dangerous cross through the six-yard box. No one is there to pounce, however.
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2 min: Fernando Torres has a little sight of goal but can’t get his shot on target. A decent start from the home side.
A couple of decent former Liverpool strikers have a natter on the halfway line in opposing shirts. Peeeep! And we are under way.
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The players are out at a packed Vicente Calderón stadium. Hands shaken, photos taken, and football is about to get under way in Madrid.
Manchester United did quite well without Rooney today, beating Liverpool 3-1; can Barça do it without Mes... No, stop, I can’t go through with that comparison.
Here is the match report from Real Madrid’s 6-0 mauling of Espanyol, in which Spanish football’s hot property Cristiano Ronaldo scored some goals:
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Team news
Lionel Messi is left on the Barcelona bench after missing training this week due to the birth of his second child. Goalkeeper Claudio Bravo has a calf strain and is replaced by Marc-André ter Stegen. Gerard Piqué remains suspended and Dani Alves is injured. Despite showing some chemistry with Antoine Griezmann in the 3-0 win against Sevilla, the £24.5m summer signing from Porto, Jackson Martínez, has been left on the bench by Diego Simeone – Fernando Torres will lead the line for Atlético.
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Atlético Madrid v Barcelona line-ups
Atlético Madrid: Oblak; Juanfran, Godín, Giménez, Filipe Luis; Tiago, Gabi, Koke, Óliver; Griezmann, Torres. Subs: Moya, Martínez, Savic, Saul, Gámez, Carrasco, Vietto.
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Roberto, Mascherano, Vermaelen, Alba; Sergio, Rakitic, Iniesta; Neymar, Suárez, Rafinha. Subs: Masip, Adriano, Bartra, Mathieu, Munir, Sandro, Messi.
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Breaking preamble-cursing team news: Messi starts on the bench.
Preamble
Before today, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi had both gone two league matches in a row without a goal for the first time since the Portuguese moved to Madrid in 2009. If there’s one thing Ronaldo hates more than being compared to Messi’s brilliance, it’s being compared to Messi’s occasional falterings, so he saw the stat and promptly destroyed it by scoring five against Espanyol in a 6-0 win to become Real Madrid’s record La Liga goalscorer (230 in 203 appearances), and go top of this season’s goalscoring charts. Gauntlet thrown.
Messi is expected to start against Atlético despite not returning to Barcelona training since the international break for personal reasons. While Madrid have started the season with a goalless draw (in which they had 26 shots), a 5-0 win and now a 6-0 win, Barcelona have played with a touch of The Arsenal about them, nicking their opening matches 1-0, the latter thanks to former Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen’s late goal, who said afterwards he didn’t celebrate simply because it had been so long since he’d last scored, he’d forgotten how.
Barça are up against a new-look Atlético side with a buzz about them already this term, and their 3-0 win away at Sevilla evinced just as much. Antoine Griezmann roving behind Jackson Martínez is just the sort of devilish duo you can imagine knocking Arsenal out of the Champions League in the round of 16.
New Barcelona season-ticket holder Arda Turan will no doubt be an interested onlooker. His former side lose key players every summer, yet have become master rebuilders to keep challenging the immovables above. Their latest project also features the joyous quick feet of Torres – Not Fernando but Óliver, who has returned from a successful season on loan Porto, where he scored seven goals in 22 games, and at 20 already looks the real deal. This has the makings of an early season classic, which I may or may not have just hexed.
Kick-off: 7:30pm BST.
Lawrence will be here shortly. Until then, here’s Barney Ronay on the walking box of tricks that is Neymar, who could this season become as vital to his club as he is to his country:
I have a feeling this could be Neymar’s season, a moment when he flexes his shoulders and moves to another level. Not that there is much wrong with his current level as a key component at Barcelona in one of the great modern club football attacks. He can get better though, if only because there is no obvious ceiling to his gifts. This is a player who can do pretty much anything with a football, who can dribble, finish and reel off some mind-bendingly subtle, high-grade tricks and swerves, one of those athletes who, like an Olympic sprinter, doesn’t really seem to touch the ground much, playing most of his matches hovering a little above the earth’s crust.
He is stronger too and a little more direct. For all the previous talk of bulking up Neymar really did look more slabbed and ripped against USA, able to burst through tackles, to shrug off opponents in possession, employing that wonderfully smooth lateral spring to glide past opponents and keep the game alive, Messi-style, rather than stumble at the slightest contact.
Best of all – and this was the real joy of that dummy against USA – he still seems to be genuinely enjoying all this, to have retained a kernel of something that is essentially Brazilian, the idea of football as a matter of trickery and cheek, a game to be played as much as a contest to be won.
It is big shame Neymar was never close to coming to the Premier League this summer. What a buy he would have been, a signing so good the league should frankly have clubbed together to get him in just to primp the brand. In a league where Eden Hazard was out on his own as the player of the year and Diego Costa almost hung on as top scorer despite producing a symphony of twanging banjo hamstrings every time he tried to run after Christmas, just imagine what Neymar could get up to.
You can read more here.
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