Barcelona could not finish the chances they created against Atletico Madrid, and paid for it dearly in stoppage time. Various big names were on the end of criticism after the result.
Dani Olmo saw the thin end of life at Barcelona, but the more familiar target man was Robert Lewandowski. According to Sport, teammate Gavi was also frustrated with the Polish forward.
The dressing room ended up very emotionally affected after the cruel defeat against Atlético Madrid. Not even the optimistic and energetic internal words of Hansi Flick served to raise the morale of a group that could not believe what happened. @tjuanmarti
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 23, 2024
In the final ten minutes of the first half, Atletico grew into the game, and Gavi raised his arms in frustration at Lewandowski for his lack of pressing of the backline. As the players exited the pitch following the half-time whistle, Gavi was animated in discussion with Lewandowski, reprimanding him again. The veteran defended himself, saying that as the ball had gone wider, he was not supposedly to push forward onto the defender, with both standing by their assertion.
Lewandowski did miss one offside sitter, and was narrowly unable to get a touch on multiple balls across the box. That said, their best chances were for Fermin Lopez, Raphinha and Pedri. The 36-year-old’s ability to hold up physically in Hansi Flick’s system has been one of the major doubts about him this season in general though.