With a 2-2 draw at Valencia preserving their unbeaten start to the La Liga campaign, Barcelona return to the Nou Camp this weekend to face an in-form Atletico Madrid. Having picked up two draws on their travels so far, Pep Guardiola’s side will be glad of a match in front of their home fans this Saturday night, having scored thirteen goals without reply against Villarreal and Osasuna respectively.
Despite losing both Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan this summer, Atletico show no signs of a team in transition; their six games in all competitions so far have brought four wins and just one goal conceded as they sit one point behind the defending champions.
The performances of a pair of new boys have caught the eye, in particular; both Cesc Fabregas and Radamel Falcao have greatly impressed following big-money moves to La Liga from Arsenal and Porto respectively and as the duo prepare to square up ahead of Saturday’s showdown, WhoScored takes a look at the impact each has made so far.
Cesc Fabregas
Questions were initially raised as to how quickly Fabregas could establish himself in the Barca starting XI but a series of scintillating displays have immediately silenced the doubters. Put simply, every time Fabregas has started for Barcelona, he has found the net. A ten minute sub appearance in the European Super Cup against Porto harvested a goal and since then, he has started every one of Barca’s four league games this season, with a sub appearance in the Champions League clash against AC Milan for the injured Andres Iniesta in between.
While Lionel Messi leads the way with 5 goals for the champions, all the little Argentine’s efforts have come in easy wins at home- two goals in the 5-0 season opener with Villarreal, followed by a hat-trick in last weekend’s 8-0 rout of Osasuna sees him joint-top scorer in La Liga after four rounds of games.
Fabregas has shown a far greater consistency, though; he may not have scored more than one goal per game but his contribution has been arguably more vital. Goals in each of the club’s 2-2 away games at Real Sociedad and Valencia were crucial to avoiding defeat and, in a season where Real Madrid have badly stuttered out the blocks, helped maintain a slim one point advantage over Jose Mourinho’s side. Furthermore, Messi has grabbed his 5 goals from an average 4.5 shots per game- Fabregas has scored 4 goals from just 6 shots, or 1.5 per game.
His four goals have been supplemented by 4 assists, meaning Fabregas has had a hand in 8 of Barca’s 17 goals so far. A look at his key passes shows why- he’s made 2.5 per game, second –once again- to Messi. While Xavi has made just 1 key pass per game and Dani Alves 2, Fabregas’ integration has been seamlessly spectacular. So good, in fact, that he’s even ahead of Messi in the WhoScored rankings- with an average 8.60, he’s the top-rated player in La Liga so far.
Also worth a mention here is Alexis Sanchez. The summer purchase from Udinese also had an immediate effect to his Nou Camp career before injury brought it to a shuddering halt. A hamstring tear in the 2-2 draw at Sociedad means the Chilean will be sidelined for around two months and by the way he had settled, he’ll be sorely missed.
Sanchez played just 121 minutes before his injury and grabbed a goal and an assist for Barca- similar to Fabregas, these were shared over his two appearances. Sanchez had managed 1.5 shots per game, as well as 0.5 key passes and 1 successful dribble, as Guardiola fielded him wide right and through the middle in his two appearances.
He had also shown a willingness to work for the team, with 2 tackles and 1.5 interceptions per game, and with an average rating of 8.03, is the third top-rated Barca player behind Cesc and Messi.
Radamel Falcao
Atletico seem to have a knack of replacing their centre forwards with consummate ease in recent years. Fernando Torres was followed by Sergio Aguero and now, with the Argentine shipped off to Man City, Radamel Falcao has stepped up to the breach in spectacular style.
Falcao’s goalscoring exploits in last season’s Europa League with Porto dispelled any notions that he might have trouble adjusting to a tougher domestic league- 72 goals in 85 games for the Portuguese side is the sign of a natural predator and the Columbian is already demonstrating his prowess in the box.
Having missed the season opener against Osasuna, Falcao failed to fire in a difficult debut at leaders Valencia, but his home debut- a Europa League clash with Celtic- saw him open his Atletico goal account within three minutes, as he set his side on the way to a comfortable 2-0 victory. What has followed in the last two games has been nothing short of sensational. A hat-trick against Santander and a brace against Gijon as Atletico recorded two back-to-back 4-0 victories to sit on seven points, equal with neighbours Real.
Five goals in three games then, and an average of 5 shots per game is twice that of Atletico’s next main goal threat, Eduardo Salvio (2.5). He’s made just 1 key pass and 0.3 successful dribbles per game but Falcao has been bought for his goals and so far, has delivered big time. A WhoScored match rating of 8.37 is third best in La Liga, behind only Fabregas and Messi.
Gabi is also worthy of our attention, too. The midfielder returned to Atletico after a spell at Zaragoza and his playmaking ability has shone superbly in the opening four matches. An incredible 5.7 key passes per game has set up chance after chance for his team mates and he’s been rewarded with 3 assists already.
The man to make Atletico tick, he’s averaged the most passes (66) with a fantastic 90% accuracy and has also shown plenty goal threat, with 2 shots per game, though has yet to find the net. Gabi has also shown great work-rate in the middle- 1.3 tackles and 2.7 interceptions highlight his defensive qualities and have helped him to 2 man of the match award so far- more than Falcao’s 1. With a WhoScored average rating of 8.31, he’s fifth-top rated player in La Liga after the four rounds of matches so far.
