Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid, go second in La Liga: Stats
FC Barcelona tamed Atletico Madrid 3-0 on matchday 29 of the La Liga 2023-24 season. Joao Felix opened the scoring against his parent club in the 38th minute. Barcelona then added two more goals in the second half via Robert Lewandowski and Fermin Lopez respectively. With this win, Barcelona have gone ahead of Girona to take second place in the league standings.
Lewandowski joins Ronaldo in elite company
In addition to scoring a goal, Lewandowski also provided two assists in the match. As per Opta, Lewandowski is the first player to be involved in at least three goals in an away La Liga match against Atletico Madrid since Cristiano Ronaldo in November 2016 (G3). He is now the sixth to do so in the 21st century in the competition.
20-plus goals across 13 successive seasons
Lewandowski scored his 20th goal for Barcelona in all competitions this season from 39 games. He has now scored 20-plus goals in each of the last 13 seasons. Lewandowski has 36 La Liga goals for Barcelona and 53 overall. In the 2023-24 La Liga season, the Polish international has 13 goals and eight assists. Overall, he has 29 goals involvement this season for Barcelona.
Unwanted record for Atletico
Atletico have lost their last five games against Barcelona in La Liga after Xavi Hernández's arrival as manager. It is the first time Atletico have lost five in a row in the competition against the Catalans, with Diego Simeone as coach.
Barca end Atletico's 25-match unbeaten run at home
Atletico have been defeated at the Metropolitano by at 3+ goals difference for the first time in any competition. It's the sixth time the Madrid club have conceded three goals at the new stadium and the first time they have conceded three goals and scored none. Meanwhile, Barcelona ended a 25-match unbeaten run for Atletico (W23 D2) at home in La Liga.
How did the match pan out?
For the first 30 minutes, the match offered little substance before IIkay Gundogan dribbled his way into the edge of the box and found Lewandowski, whose cutback was steered into the net by Felix ahead of half-time. Rodrigo De Paul's poor pass saw Barcelona take advantage as Raphinha set up Lewandiwski. In the 65th minute, Lewandowski's accurate cross found Lopez for the third.
Match stats and points table
Atletico mustered 12 attempts with three shots on target. Barca had five shots on target from nine attempts. Barcelona dominated possession (60%) and clocked a pass accuracy of 86%. Atletico had seven corners but failed to take advantage. After 29 matches, Barca have 64 points (W19 D7 L3) as they took a two-point cushion over Girona (62). Atletico are fifth with 55 points.