The visitors had masses of possession throughout, but failed to create clear chances as their slump continued
The Frenchman's 36th-minute header would have been enough to send through the Madrid side on away goals, but he doubled his tally from the spot late-on to leave Barca's hope of historic back-to-back trebles in tatters.
The visitors had masses of possession throughout, but failed to create clear chances as their slump continued.
The league leaders have dropped eight of their last nine La Liga points as a dip in form has hit Lionel Messi and company at the worst possible time. The Argentine is now over 400 minutes without a goal and the best defensive unit in Europe never looked like allowing him through.
Atletico didn't have much of the ball but with it they were much like their defence – direct and violent. Their first goal came through one of their trademark swift counter-attacks, and the second came after a blatant handball in the box from Andres Iniesta.
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AFP
1. Diego Simeone goes back to Plan A
Having ditched his favoured 4-4-2 for more of a 4-3-3 at the Nou Camp last week , Diego Simeone returned to the shape that had served his side so well in the league meeting between these two sides in late January.
Barcelona won that game but Atletico had taken the lead and caused them problems early-on with high-energy pressing from forward pairing Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco.
Having flanked Fernando Torres last week they were reunited today and occupied themselves with harrying Barca's central defenders in possession.
Interestingly, the full-backs were allowed time on the ball but the emphasis was on ensuring no passing lanes were available to feed the visitors' midfield.
Reuters
Reuters
2. Barcelona's dip continues
Having won just one point from the last nine possible in La Liga, both sides of Madrid have been reveling in a Barca wobble.
While it's worth noting that two of those games came against La Liga's top four, it is also inescapable that performances have dipped slightly.
Luis Enrique's supercharged front three that has spent most of the season blowing teams away has somewhat spluttered of late. Luis Suarez scored a decisive brace in the first leg, but perhaps the long campaign and Luis Enrique's reluctance to rest his stars has caught up with them.
Messi is now over 400 minutes without a goal, his longest run in years, while Neymar has lost some of the spark that made him the best player in La Liga over the first half of the season.
Reuters
Reuters
3. Atleti are kings of the last-ditch
It’s not just their organisation that marks out Atletico Madrid’s defence as the best in the business.
That is a huge factor, of course, with those two, deep banks of four so hard to penetrate that even the greatest forward line ever assembled has look stuck for ideas whenever they’ve played against 11 men in this tie.
What is so extraordinary about the Atleti defence is that they simply don’t know when they’re beaten. Diego Godín is the king of the last-gasp intervention, but even he was upstaged by skipper Gabi today, whose physics-defying sliding block prevented Barca from getting a crucial away goal on the hour mark.
Lucas Hernandez is only a stand-in at centre-back but he knows the drill, as he showed when he took a howitzer to the face in the 75th minute. But that is part of what makes Atletico so tough to beat - you think you’re in and then, from nowhere, a flying body gets in your way.
Even if Diego Simeone’s Atletico never win another trophy with him in charge, he has still created something special in this team. A never-say-die attitude that, when complemented by quality, is quite extraordinary.
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4. Versatile Saúl shows what all the fuss is about
When Barcelona sold David Villa to Atletico - back in the days when the Calderón side weren't considered a threat - the Catalans included a clause that would give them the right to match any accepted offer for a young central midfielder called Saúl Ñiguez (as well as former Liverpool defender Javi Manquillo).
Saúl has broken out in a big way this season, becoming an absolutely key player for Diego Simeone not just for his quality but his versatility.
No longer the number 10 that attracted Barca's admiring glances, he now prefers to play deeper but has featured at centre-back, left midfield and, today, right midfield.
A fifth different role of the season and yet another in which he has excelled.
It was his stunning cross that led to the opening goal.
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Reuters
5. Atletico are genuine candidates
The acid test for any team that wants to win the Champions League is to beat Barcelona, and now they have.As good as Barca have looked this season, as seemingly destined as they were to become the first team to win back-to-back Champions League titles, their dip in form has come at the worst possible time.
Unravelling at the business end of the season must stop tonight for Barcelona, who have La Liga and a potential Copa del Rey win to preserve.
But Atleti proved tonight what many of us already knew. They can do this. Have no doubts.
Reuters
Barcelona: Ter Stegen, Piqué, Alba, Rakitic (Turan '64), Sergio, Alves (Sergi Roberto '64), Mascherano, Iniesta, Suárez, Messi, Neymar Jr
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