The last night was a highly disappointing one for FC Barcelona as they fell to a 2-1 defeat toAtletico Madrid despite having gone in front in the first half.
The Catalans kept creating chances to increase their lead throughout the game, but were unable to finish these chances, while the Colchoneros took full advantage of every sniff they took at the Blaugranes’ goal to take home the full three points and the La Liga top spot.
Despite the loss, the performance from Barcelona was not really poor, and one player, Pedri, was particularly excellent last night. He got the MVP award for this game, and as Mundo Deportivo has reported, also talked to the media following the full-time whistle.
As was the case with Hansi Flick, Pedri also rued the chances that his team was unable to take last night:
“It’s a very tough defeat, to be honest. I think we had chances to close out the game, and when you don’t, this is what happens. I think Raphinha had two chances, Robert another, and I missed one where I needed more composure and decisiveness. In football, if you don’t take your chances, you lose.”
“In the end, they caught us on that counterattack, and we need to be smarter and not leave ourselves so exposed.”
The Barcelona midfielder also rued the fact that they had to taste defeat at their own home ground:
“It’s tough, especially because our home is where it should be much harder to beat us, and that’s not happening. We need to improve a lot. We have to take advantage of the upcoming break to reset mentally and physically and come back fully prepared to try not to lose any more games and hope the others slip up.”
There is no doubt that Pedri left everything on the pitch last night, and deserved a victory for his performance. Hopefully, his skills will bear fruit next time, and help Barcelona recover their lost position in La Liga in the coming weeks.