And just like that, Barca survived the scare.
After that scare though, the game became more even, Atletico Madrid slightly coming out of their shell to attack more.
But it was still more or less the same Diego Simeone football.
Nothing exciting, just plain, boring, old-school football. But it was effective. Like they say, if it ain't bad, don't fix it.
But then, today, it was not so good.
After repeated knocking at the door of the fearsome Atletico Madrid defense to no avail for more than 40 minutes, hit by a stroke of luck, FC Barcelona finally broke the duck, scoring the first goal of the game.
It came in the 42nd minute.
And once again, Sam was at the heart of the action.
Just like in the Lille game, Atletico Madrid gave one of their defenders the task of man-marking Sam on this game. Like most other teams that faced FC Barcelona this season, they were wary of the threat posed by their striker.
