Three talking points from Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona as Robert Lewandowski sends Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear

The primary of the triple header in opposition to Atletico Madrid, all inside the area of 10 days, noticed Barca return to the scene of their 4-0 Copa del Rey hammering, and to a stadium the place the hosts had received 13 of their 14 league video games in 2025/26.

The Spanish Cup victory was, nonetheless, solely Atleti’s third at dwelling in opposition to the Blaugranes within the final seven aggressive H2Hs.

With Actual Madrid having misplaced 2-1 in opposition to Mallorca earlier within the day, it meant that Barca might go seven factors clear on the prime of the league with a win.

Let’s check out three speaking factors from the sport…

Time to place some respect on Rashford’s identify?

Tireless working, cheap associative play together with his team-mates, a objective created and completed by him… isn’t it time to place some respect on Marcus Rashford’s identify?

It’s clear that he’ll play second fiddle to Raphinha when the Brazilian is match; nonetheless, his energy, tempo and objective contributions make him a greater than ready deputy.

Whether or not Barca makes his keep a extra everlasting one is a moot level at this stage, however given his numbers to this point, he can’t actually have finished an excessive amount of extra.

If there’s one criticism of him, it’s maybe the annoying behavior of jogging again when shedding the ball quite than bullishly attempting to win it again. Will that price him a everlasting switch?

Reliability and flexibility from Eric Garcia

Not so way back, there was a chance, albeit a distant one, that Eric Garcia might need been offered.

Nowadays, there’s no extra dependable and versatile participant within the Barca squad than the 25-year-old, and the sport in opposition to Atleti confirmed simply how important Eric has turn into.

Three positional adjustments within the recreation and no drop off in high quality, regardless of ever-changing obligations and up in opposition to quite a lot of opponents.

His performances could typically appear understated, however his significance to Hansi Flick’s fashion is definitely not in query.

Pedri remoted too typically in midfield

Barca usually appears to be like to both Lamine or Pedri to supply the inventive spark within the staff, and the way profitable the pair are at doing simply that largely depends upon how a lot time and area they’re capable of finding for themselves.

With Fermin typically pushing as much as help Dani Olmo, it left Pedri remoted and double-marked, diluting his affect for lengthy intervals.

To ensure that the quantity eight to have been more practical within the first 45, there needed to be an earlier acknowledgement from Fermin and others that the gaps in midfield had been far too large.

Marc Bernal’s compelled introduction largely corrected the difficulty, although it actually ought to’ve been addressed effectively earlier than then.