Pau Cubarsi explains how Barcelona fixed 'disconnected' first-half display at half-time to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 and restore three-point La Liga lead

Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi has revealed how half-time tactical adjustments sparked Sunday's 2-1 comeback victory at Atletico Madrid to restore a three-point La Liga lead. The champions recovered from a sluggish opening through a Fermin Lopez brace at the Metropolitano Stadium after Real Madrid had moved level on Saturday.

Cubarsi admitted the visitors lacked cohesion before the break as they responded to rivals Madrid thrashing Valencia 3-0 a day earlier to draw level on 30 points. Despite trailing early in the Spanish capital, Hansi Flick's side fought back to claim an 11th victory from 12 top-flight outings this term. Their solitary domestic setback remains last month's home El Clasico defeat against their nearest challengers.

Atletico dominated early on as Julian Alvarez wasted a sixth-minute chance against Joan Garcia before Marc Pubill hit the crossbar and Pedri struck the post. Giuliano Simeone then converted Alvarez's 10th-minute cross shortly before a minute's pause honoured late Tenerife striker Jesus de Miguel, though Lopez curled home an equaliser just before half-time.

Speaking after the match, Cubarsi explained how the visitors turned the tide during the interval: "In the first half we came out a bit disconnected. They had a great first half, but at half-time we were able to fix the things we weren't doing well and we took the victory.

"We needed to apply better high pressure, and in the second half we positioned ourselves a bit better. They weren't as comfortable, and we had a presence up front. If we're playing well and give our all in every match, we're going to have a great league season."

Before the break, Diego Simeone's men edged the expected goals count by 1.38 to 0.84 across seven attempts compared to nine from the Catalan giants. Flick responded at the interval by introducing Frenkie de Jong at right-back for Brian Farinas, before also calling upon substitutes Gavi, Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen and Karim Adeyemi during a dominant second period.

Those changes restricted the hosts to just two off-target efforts worth 0.15 xG after the restart while the leaders registered 10 shots totalling 0.77 xG. That territorial control paid off in the 66th minute when Lamine Yamal threaded a pass through for Lopez to guide his second goal past Jan Oblak.

Flick's pacesetters now head into the November international break holding a three-point cushion at the summit after passing a major examination on the road. Conversely, suffering a second league defeat of the campaign leaves third-placed Atletico five points adrift of the leaders. Both clubs will look to regroup over the two-week hiatus before domestic and European commitments resume later this month.