Ousmane Dembele has made headlines in the past week for his unprofessional habits but grabbed a few for the right reasons after he scored a late equaliser for Barcelona at the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday.
Diego Costa seemed to have snatched victory for Atletico Madrid when he headed home from Antoine Griezmann’s corner in the 77th minute.
However, there was more drama to come when Dembele came on as a late substitute and latched on to Lionel Messi’s pass to score a 90th-minute equaliser and secure a 1-1 draw.
Here’s a look at some of the talking points from the encounter.
VALVERDE REVERTS TO TYPE
Barcelona’s title-winning campaign in Ernesto Valverde’s first season in charge was founded on a pragmatic 4-4-2 formation which stabilised a porous defence.
The Catalans had lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain last summer in a world-record transfer and instead of attempting to replace the Brazilian’s goals in attack, Valverde shored up the defence with the new system rendering them a more balanced unit.
The manager has been more attacking this season after critics labelled him ‘negative’ but having conceded seven times in their previous three fixtures, you can see the reasoning behind the decision to return to this system away at Atletico.
It certainly paid off as the visitors were difficult to break down and while they did sacrifice an edge in attack, Messi operating in a free role ensured they were always capable of fashioning an opening at some point.
The system saw the visitors dominate possession and have enough numbers back whenever they lost it while Samuel Umtiti’s return helped as well. Ultimately, they conceded from a set-piece but Atletico never really carved them open otherwise.
Ernesto Valverde.
VINTAGE ATLETICO
Regardless of the result, this performance would’ve left Diego Simeone bursting with pride.
His players ran their socks off, fought for every ball and left everything on the pitch. Their shape was near-perfect, operating as a compact unit with the space between Costa and the centre-backs minimal, making for a congested midfield.
They relentlessly pressed Barca, denying them time and space in central areas, only letting up when the ball went wide.
The crunching challenges, disciplined defending, niggling fouls, industrious attack and everything in between made for a trademark Atletico performance.
What added to it was Costa of all people bagging their goal. He managed to get under the skin of some of the Barca players, was barely involved otherwise but managed to score his first La Liga goal since February.
All that was missing was the victory, but Simeone will take plenty of positives from this display.
Vintage Atletico Madrid.
DEMBELE SUPER SUB
Dembele has been the talk of the town lately and is now the toast of it. The young Frenchman’s reputation was in a downward spiral after reports emerged that he’s been showing up late for training and his attitude was being called into question at Barca.
However, there’s no doubting his quality and while that’s his redeeming feature, it’s also what makes him so frustrating.
For the second time in two La Liga fixtures Dembele has proved to be Barca’s saviour, coming off the bench to score goals that are equal parts dramatic and crucial.
He scored the late winner against Rayo Vallecano in a 3-2 result earlier this month and his equaliser against Atletico was perhaps even more valuable.
The manner in which it was scored is also testament to his ability. Barca hadn’t been afforded a clear-cut chance throughout the game but Dembele had the intelligence to hold his position on the outside just that little bit longer. Messi sucked defenders towards him before poking it into his path.
After that, the composure for the finish was special. A flawless first touch set him up nicely on the inside, creating the angle for him to put it past Jan Oblak.
He’s an infuriating individual, but boy can he play.
Ousmane Dembele (c) scores the equaliser.
