They had been in a battle, they had been behind and they had been on edge, but Barcelona found a way through, holding on to their place at the top of the table and holding the doubts at bay for another day. A fortnight in which they were defeated by Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid, in which they might have wondered if something was not right, ended with a 2-1 win at Atlético Madrid. This was a proper test and a proper game, 10 World Cup winners on the field and first place awaiting the winner, and at the end of an intense enjoyable night, that was Hansi Flick's side.
At a noisy Metropolitano, the atmosphere matching the occasion, against a frenetic Atlético side that went for the throat, Barcelona trailed to a Giuliano Simeone goal and for a while in a frenzied first half it looked like there may be no way back. But they found it, two goals from Fermín López either side of the break leading them to the kind of victory that brings a reward beyond the points. It hadn't been easy but they had made it; ultimately, they might conclude they had found a way to manage it too, some satisfaction in the suffering, in how they resisted and re-established control amid the chaos.
"The lesson is that when you can finish it, you have to," Jan Oblak said afterwards but there was no real reproach. The Atlético goalkeeper insisted that his team would do it again, and that they weren't going to give up. After seven successive wins, they lost but they had certainly competed; another lesson might be that of these teams are in the title race, not just Barcelona. Simeone Sr might agree with his son that in the first half the plan had been executed to "perfection". He might also concede that in the second they found the ball taken from them.
Atlético flew into this, fuelled by the noise. They did more inside three minutes than in 90 against Bayern Munich in midweek. A superb clearance from Pau Cubarsí denied them in the first minute. Álex Baena curled wide in the second. And they forced a corner in the third. Barcelona were overwhelmed and exposed, unable to settle, and Diego Simeone's side could sense it.
They could see it too, all that space behind the visiting defence, and soon Koke released Julián Álvarez into it. He had a long way to run and a long time to think. Perhaps too long. Was this the moment for the striker who had wanted to join Barcelona in the summer but been forced to stay, redemption and forgiveness laid before him? As he raced into the area, he opted to go round Joan García but the goalkeeper stretched and just about Álvarez was facing the goal again, sufficient Barcelona players had recovered to clear.
Not for long. From the corner, Marc Pubill thudded a header against the bar and although Barcelona did the same at the other end when Lamine Yamal and Pedri combined for the latter to shoot, Atlético soon had the lead. It started with a superb crossfield ball to open up the right wing where Marcos Llorente and Lee Kang-in worked the space for the Korean to guide a pass to Álvarez coming in off the other wing. He immediately returned it across the face of the box where Simeone Jr was thundering in at top speed, which is the speed he always runs at. From seven yards, without breaking his frantic stride, he scored.
The Metropolitano erupted. They had only been playing 10 minutes but this was no more than Atlético deserved and they kept on coming back for more. Every time they changed the direction of play, space yawned before them. Baena was going at Barcelona on the left, Alejandro Grimaldo joining him. Lee did the same on the right, Llorente with him. Pablo Barrios was taking a grip in the middle. As for Simeone, he was everywhere, screeching about the pitch like a cartoon whirlwind, arms and legs occasionally visible sticking out of a wild dust cloud. As for Álvarez, he moved smartly through the chaos.
Álvarez might have added a goal to his assist, his shot escaping under García and almost over the line. He also set up a wonderful opportunity for David Hancko, alone in front of goal, but the effort slipped just wide. Then Lee's shot was stopped by García.
Barcelona could be grateful the lead was only one still. be, in fact. They were almost level on half an hour when Lamine Yamal slipped in – the angle was tight and from close range he hit the side-netting – and on 45 minutes, they level. There was still a vulnerability when Atlético leapt out, but Barcelona had begun to get a bit of the ball, edging their way into the game and equalising it too. Pedri drove at the Atlético defence, neat footwork taking him through a tight passageway to find Fermín. There was fortune in the deflection off Pubill but the finish was superb.
Half-time came as a reset; with the storm seen out and Frenkie de Jong introduced, Barcelona started the second period better. Pushing Atlético back, the press better applied now, the ball was moved with more precision and more comfort too. Twice Lamine Yamal let fly and twice Pubill had to intercept as Barcelona began to impose.
And yet the best opportunity in those opening minutes fell to Álvarez on 55. Running through, he lifted his shot over García and over the bar, his shot at redemption gone and replaced by frustration and renewed doubts instead. Baena would be played in by Álvarez too but, as if shocked to find the ball landing at his feet all alone by the far post, he hesitated. Unsure what to do, his attempt at scooping the ball up to Alexander Sørloth didn't come off.
Tiredness afforded Barcelona a little more time and space now, the threat from Atlético far less insistent while theirs increased: by fulltime they would have racked up 19 shots. And when Fermín made yet another sharp, darting run on 66 minutes, Lamine Yamal played a clever, perfectly weighted pass into the area for him to cut the shot past Oblak for his second of the night, his eighth of the season.
It wasn't over, the feeling that the from the visiting fans were premature and tempting fate reinforced when Pubill ran through and found Álvarez, whose deflected shot looped over. Yet Flick's side had this where they wanted it, his changes underlining that the priority now was a control which they exercised to the end, Atlético's fire put out. At the whistle, they embraced, exhausted as an ovation went round. They had been in a fight and there will be more to come, but Barcelona were still standing top at the end of it.