La Liga Hangover: Real, Barcelona and Atletico Take Turns Showing Little Chinks

The great British philosopher Bernard Williams once said, “We grow a little every time we do not take advantage of somebody’s weakness.” A leading voice on the concept of morality, Williams probably nailed it with that one, but you sense La Liga had its earmuffs on at the time. 

Spain’s top division is a place where morality is a loose concept; where what you do only matters through the prism of what the other lot does; where taking another’s weakness and parading it through the streets on a stick is the modus operandi. 

Except on Wednesday. 

On an evening which was only missing a coined slogan dreamed up by an overly aroused marketing department, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid all went home not so much celebrating weaknesses but quietly lamenting them—their own, that is.

For each, this had been an opportunity, not the decisive sort but more a setting-of-the-tone kind. Real’s centred on establishing a more-than-handy early lead, Barcelona’s was to atone for Alaves and maintain a grip, and Atleti’s was to do what they’d never done. But in a way, all of them undid themselves. 

Not that we minded. Real Madrid’s continuing habit for starting games rather sleepily gave us Raphael Varane’s memorable/forgettable (cross out as you wish) attempt at a Cruyff turn, Sergio Ramos’ ongoing evolution into a caricature of himself, Bruno’s “Panenka” and a furious late barrage from Real. 

It was a lot of fun, particularly with Ramos. The Real Madrid captain is supposed to be one of the world’s finest defenders, but in truth it’s been quite awhile since he’s looked anything like that. But what he lacks in guile he compensates for in entertainment.

On Wednesday, his giving away of a penalty stemmed from a moment in which he looked to be playing a different sport, handling the ball above his head as though he was completing a layup. But only he can respond by heading in the equaliser a couple of minutes later, giving the world a new verb in the process. 

Still, 1-1 wasn’t what the Ramos ordered. 

Ramos Ramosing more than ever tonight.

— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) September 21, 2016

By 10:40 p.m., that result looked damaging. At the Camp Nou, Barcelona’s early dominance over Atletico was extreme, and you wondered where the Atletico you’ve known had gone.

On the touchline, Diego Simeone’s new preference for a messy sort of mop didn’t emit the same menace of his old look that could have slotted him nicely into Scarface. He just looks a bit nicer now, and we’re not sure how we feel about that. 

It wasn’t just him, either. For the opening half, Simeone’s players were without that lacing of nastiness that we’ve grown to take a weird comfort in. Atleti had a lot of talent on the pitch in Antoine Griezmann, Koke, Saul Niguez, Kevin Gameiro and Yannick Carrasco, but there was a bit of that word that’s not allowed here that was missing. 

Barcelona moved the ball around with speed and found little pockets of space that Atleti normally don’t give up. Lionel Messi and Neymar tested Jan Oblak frequently before Ivan Rakitic did what Ivan Rakitic now does. 

11 of Ivan Rakitic’s 19 goals for Barcelona have been deadlock-breakers.

— Rik Sharma (@riksharma_) September 21, 2016

Like their neighbours from the capital, Atleti had revealed their own chinks rather than having them found by others. Simeone knew it, too. 

“The key was the change in the second half, when we became ourselves again,” the Argentinian said afterwards, per Marca. “We couldn’t show that in the first half, but in the second half we returned to who we are, pressed and attacked more intensely.”

Those changes he spoke of were the introductions of Angel Correa and Fernando Torres, but privately Simeone might concede it was those forced upon Luis Enrique that really made the difference.

Sergio Busquets and Lionel Messi had to go off; Andre Gomes and Arda Turan replaced them, respectively. Losing the blond fella is always tough, but having to swap Busquets for Gomes is like being asked to trade tomato sauce for Nando’s Extra Hot—they’re both good, but the latter is not what you need when trying to keep a lid on it. 

Immediately, Atleti found ways through the Barcelona midfield on the …

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