Barcelona hand Atletico Madrid first loss at home this season

It was a match between the best team at home versus the best team on the road when Atletico Madrid hosted Barcelona.

The Catalan side came out on top as the visitors stunned Los Colchoneros 3-0, handing the rojiblancos their first defeat at the Metropolitano this season.

Before the whistle even blew, the injury bug bit Barcelona as Andreas Christensen picked up an injury during warm-ups as Fermin Lopez took his place.

With Ilkay Gundogan serving as the pivot, it was a struggle for Barcelona to get anything going offensively as their best creative midfielder was forced to drop deep. But in the 38th minute, Barcelona took the lead.

In one of the few instances where Gundogan had the ball in an area where he could create danger, he picked out Robert Lewandowski in the penalty area. Lewandowski then laid the ball back to Joao Felix who deftly slotted the ball past Jan Oblak. It was Felix's second goal against his parent side this season.

It wouldn't take long for Barcelona to double their lead.

Only two minutes into the second-half, Rodrigo De Paul gave the ball away to Raphinha. The Brazilian then lobbed a pass to Lewandowski who angled his body and got off a shot across, and past, Oblak.

Lewandowski put his bow on a stellar performance in the 65th minute as he sent in a precise cross to Fermin Lopez for Barcelona's third, all but putting the game to rest.

"Lewandowski may have played his best match since becoming a Barça player," Xavi Hernandez said after the match. "We may have played our best game of the season. We are in our best moment and we can dream, we are not ruling anything out, that's what I told the players."

It was Barcelona's fourth straight game in the league without allowing a goal. Marc-Andre ter Stegen had a couple of spectacular saves with the rest of the defense also putting in a stellar performance. Pau Cubarsi keeps playing beyond his years and Jules Kounde appears to have regained his form.

A special mention goes to Hector Fort who is a right-back playing left-back after Joao Cancelo picked up an injury.

Before tonight, the last time Atletico Madrid lost at home was last season, also against Barcelona. According to MisterChip, it was also the first time Atletico lost by a 3-0 scoreline in 168 official games.

The win puts Barcelona two points ahead in second place. As for Atletico Madrid, they're in a precarious spot as they now sit in fifth, one point behind Athletic Bilbao for fourth place and the final Champions League spot.

With the international break coming up, both teams get a rest from league action. Their next fixtures are two weeks from now with Atletico Madrid traveling to face Villarreal whereas Barcelona host Las Palmas.