In La Liga, FC Barcelona have to play Atlético Madrid and from a Catalan perspective nobody can really complain: a goal from Ousmane Dembélé in the 21st minute put Barça up 1-0 and would have three points clear of Madrid in case of victory .
And otherwise the match should only please the average Barça fan, as it is a truly classic match between Barça and Atlético. The blaugrana almost always have the ball and adapt at will through rojiblancos like a slalom pole, which are limited to isolated counter-attacks. Yet something is missing here.
Oh yeah, right: the jaw-dropping commands of the dream goals Lionel Messi used to conjure up from a hat against Atlético. There were a few, here just two to mention.
Yes, everything was better before. But as I said: if Barça can build a 3-point lead at the top of the table with a win today, the present is also quite bearable. By the way: before Dembélé started today, was he Wanda Metropolitano’s last goalscorer for Barça? Lionel Messi, of course.