Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona: Fermin masterminds comeback in top-of-the-table tussle

Fermin Lopez was the architect of a Barcelona fightback as they beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 to move three points clear at the top of LaLiga. 

The Blaugrana had seen Real Madrid move level on points with them following Los Blancos' 3-0 win over Valencia, and they knew a defeat at the Estadio Metropolitano would put Atleti top going into the international break. 

An action-packed start saw the hosts go ahead through Giuliano Simeone, but Fermin applied a deadly first-time finish in either half to clinch a statement win for the two-time defending champions.

Having been the subject of a high-profile pursuit from Barca this summer, Julian Alvarez had a huge chance to put Atleti in front after six minutes, but he took the ball far too wide and was unable to cut it back for a team-mate after Joan Garcia raced out to meet him.

The crossbar was then struck by both teams in the space of one minute and nine seconds, with David Hancko doing so from a corner for Atleti before Pedri rattled the woodwork with a left-footed curler on the break.

But it was Atleti who took the lead in the 10th minute, with Alvarez picking out Simeone for a simple finish after Marcos Llorente found him with a brilliant, swerving pass with the outside of his boot.

Alvarez should have had another assist soon afterwards as Atleti kept the pressure on, but no Rojiblancos shirts were waiting to turn his cross-shot in after he worked a one-two with Lee Kang-in. 

But Barca hit back on the stroke of half-time, with Pedri's surging run through midfield putting Atleti on the defensive. He offloaded to Fermin, and when the 23-year-old's attempted pass towards Pau Cubarsi deflected back to him, he whipped a delightful effort into the right side of the goal. 

The momentum was with the Blaugrana early in the second half as Lamine Yamal fired just wide of the far corner, although Alvarez had half a chance on the break, with his attempted lob beating Garcia but just fading wide.   

And Yamal was the creator when Barca took the lead in the 66th minute, slipping a lovely pass between Hancko and Alejandro Grimaldo, with Fermin drilling across Jan Oblak and into the far corner.

With Atleti chasing shadows in midfield, it was the visitors who went closest to scoring another goal late on, with Anthony Gordon's centre just out of reach for Yamal.

Fantastic Fermin flips the script

Sunday's contest was truly a game of two halves. Prior to the interval, Atleti had seven shots to Barca's nine, but edged the expected goals (xG) battle by 1.38 to 0.84. 

After the break, Diego Simeone's side did not hit the target from a paltry two shots, with an xG value of 0.15. Barca, by contrast, registered 10 attempts worth 0.77 xG.

The day started with Alvarez registering another goal involvement against the team he pushed to join in the recent transfer window, but it ended with one of the players he could have replaced – Fermin – stealing the headlines.

Alvarez now has seven goal involvements against Barca as an Atleti player, across all competitions (four goals, three assists), his most against a single club (five versus Tottenham and Real Madrid).

But Fermin showed his value with his brace, which took him to 15 combined goal involvements (seven goals, eight assists) in all competitions this term – among players to play fewer than 1,000 minutes, only his team-mate Raphinha (22) and Roma's Donyell Malen (16) have more.

Yamal's impact should not be underestimated either, as the World Cup-winning winger created seven chances, including his assist for the winner – he is the first Blaugrana player to hit that tally in a LaLiga game against Atleti since Xavi did so in October 2008.