Athletico Madrid's unbeaten streak of 25 games at home in La Liga has come to an end. The last time they lost a home game in all competitions was back in January 2023, against Barcelona. Once again, Barcelona has managed to defeat them. It's unclear why Athletico seems to struggle against Barcelona specifically. Is it because of the different league and approach? Don't know but being humiliated and brutalized by Barcelona was tough.
Nevertheless, Barcelona displayed a great team effort. Their intensity and defense have notably improved. They now close down tight spaces effectively, which is what Barcelona fans have been hoping to see from their players. The whole squad put in a fantastic performance, sending a strong message ahead of their match against PSG.
Atletico Madrid always has difficulty against Barcelona, especially now that both teams are in different situations, Atletico Madrid, whose performance has been inconsistent in the last few matches, and Barcelona, which is very on fire, so I think Barcelona's victory is not surprising, but they were defeated by a score. 3 goals scored without reply in front of their own supporters was of course quite embarrassing for Atletico Madrid.
It has been seen in the last few matches that Barcelona's performance has improved quite a bit and Xavi seems to have identified that this team has been able to cover up their weaknesses that have been visible since the start of the season.