Atlético Madrid 1-1 Barcelona: five things learned as Dembele cancels out Diego Costa to rescue Valverde

In a tense affair at the top of La Liga, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona drew 1-1.

The game was laboriously defensive until the last 15 minutes when all hell broke loose. We had two goals, one in the last minute, and in the end were back where we had been for most of the game with a stalemate. What did we learn?

1. Dembélé saves Valverde. Again.

Against Valladolid away, Barcelona were playing poorly and didn’t look like scoring. Then up popped Ousmane Dembélé to give his side the win. Against Real Sociedad away, Barcelona had just pulled an equaliser away at their bogey ground the Anoeta. Then up popped Ousmane Dembélé to give his side the win.

Against Rayo away, Barcelona were losing and looked hopeless. Then up popped Ousmane Dembélé to draw his side level with a stunning strike; minutes later Luis Suárez won them the game. And finally, tonight against Atlético Madrid Barcelona were losing and although they were playing with purpose, they didn’t look like scoring. Then up popped Ousmane Dembélé and, well, you know what happened next.

That’s seven points he’s won Barcelona with his goals alone. And then you take the Clásico into account, where Dembélé’s presence off the bench turned what had “disappointing draw” written all over it into a triumphant victory; and the Supercopa de España, where Dembélé struck a 78th minute thunderbolt to win Barcelona the game and secure the club’s only piece of silverware this season so far.

Ousmane Dembélé sits level with Luis Suárez as Barcelona’s second most important attacker this season. Despite all the criticism he’s received and all the negative stories about him leaked to the press and all the talk about how much Ernesto Valverde has lost patience with him (for minor acts of unprofessionalism, let’s be real); the young Frenchman consistently delivers for Barcelona the pitch and is quite literally the only reason Valverde isn’t sitting next to Julen Lopetegui in the unemployment office.

Maybe now he can get a start, eh?

2. Costa’s redemption

Coming into today’s game, Diego Costa’s last goal in La Liga was in February. He hadn’t scored at all this season in the Spanish top flight (albeit he had two in the UEFA Super Cup and one in the Champions League). No one expected him to score today, either, because he had never scored a goal against Barcelona.

And then you watched the game and that tracked. Costa was poor, argumentative and then poor some more. He didn’t look like he could threaten a kitten, let alone Gerard Piqué or Samuel Umtiti. But then in the 77th minute, Barça gave him a kitten to threaten by having Rafinha mark him for a corner. Suddenly Costa dragged the handsome training cone to the back-post, leaving him floundering at thin air as Costa rose and thumped the ball through Marc-André Ter Stegen and into the back of the net.

A massive goal (well, at the time) and surely the start of Costa’s redemption?

3. Defences on top

For 77 minutes this was one of the least enjoyable matches of the season. Usually when Barcelona face Atlético Madrid in La Liga, Diego Simeone’s side approach the match with an absurd amount of caution and do nothing but defend. They make it as hard as possible for Barça to break them down, and thus the match is either a draw or sometimes the Blaugrana win.

But today, Ernesto Valverde matched Simeone’s cautious approach and so what we got for 77 minutes was a bafflingly boring match where neither side committed too many men forward. Gerard Piqué, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Hernandez and Stefan Savic were the stars of the show. The goalkeepers (arguably the two best in the world) were rarely called on to make a save as the amazing attackers were snuffed out by the negative mentality on display from their coaches.

4. No rest for Rakitic

Ivan Rakitic’s red card vs. Real Betis before the international break meant that he was set to miss a La Liga match when not injured for the first time since February. That game when he sat out the local derby vs. Espanyol was the only game he was “rested” for in La Liga last season. Under Ernesto Valverde, Ivan Rakitic nearly always plays.

Except after a long summer taking Croatia to the World Cup final, Rakitic has looked even more exhausted than usual, to the point where a few games out could have done him good. Obviously he was only banned for one game but between Sergi Roberto and Arturo Vidal, one expected them to show enough that Rakitic could have a few game’s rest.

But no. Sergi Roberto left the field injured, which means that next week Ivan Rakitic will be right back in the starting XI.

5. La Liga wide open

The draw keeps Barcelona top of La Liga, extending their lead over Sevilla by a point to leave them two ahead of the Andalucians. But Sevilla play tomorrow and could take top spot themselves. This means that even if Sevilla manage that, one of the worst Real Madrid sides this century would only be six points off top spot (as it is they are five behind Barcelona).

Atleti themselves are just one point behind Barça whilst this season’s surprise package Alavés, despite losing on Friday night, remain just two behind. All this to say: La Liga is wide open. A Barcelona win tonight would have not just ensured they finished the weekend top but would have laid down a marker for the season, allowing them to perhaps finally put together a run of results.

But no, they only managed to draw. And as a result La Liga remains as open a contest as it has been in years. Can Sevilla take advantage tomorrow when they host Valladolid? The way this season has going it would almost be a surprise if they did!

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