It was momentarily getting a little bit nervous in Barcelona. Heading into Sunday's fixture with Atletico Madrid, the Blaugrana were winless in three and hadn't scored in nearly 500 minutes. Their La Liga lead was eight points, an advantage that could prove to be thin if Real Madrid found form.
But any notions of a potential bottling were quashed by a professional performance at Camp Nou. Robert Lewandowski was once again wasteful, but Ferran Torres bagged a crucial goal, while the Blaugrana relied on an excellent defensive showing to see off third-placed Atleti with a 1-0 win.
Torres opened the scoring for the Blaugrana just before half time. He received the ball on the edge of the box with plenty of time to pick his spot, and dutifully passed Raphinha's cross into the bottom corner.
Barcelona went about their second half by steadily avoiding the goal. Gavi missed twice, Raphinha couldn't find the net from three yards out, and Lewandowski, meanwhile, continued his miserable run in front of goal, firing wide while clean through and lacking the instincts in front of goal that have so regularly defined his game.
Things were tight enough defensively that Barcelona weren't made to pay. Ronald Araujo turned in another classy performance, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen was reliable enough to ensure the Blaugrana steadied a suddenly wavering season.
GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Camp Nou...
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