Barcelona performance 'on another level' in Atletico win, says Flick

Hansi Flick says Barcelona's performance against Atletico Madrid was "on another level" after they came from behind to earn a 3-1 win on Tuesday.

Atletico took a 19th-minute lead through Alex Baena before Raphinha levelled the score shortly after, though Robert Lewandowski missed a first-half penalty.

It mattered little, however, as Dani Olmo and Ferran Torres completed the comeback, sending Barcelona four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga.

Flick's side have won each of their last five games and also claimed 15 points from losing positions this season, more than any other team.

And the German head coach was thrilled with the win, highlighting his side's fighting response to going behind.

"I think our performance has been on another level. We fought together, and it was fantastic," Flick said.

"It's always great to gain confidence against a team as good as Atletico.

"We'll see if it's a turning point. I think it was one of our best games. I really liked what I saw in the 90 minutes. We deserve the three points.

"We have not given up. I'm proud of what I've seen."

Atletico, meanwhile, saw a 13-game unbeaten streak in LaLiga ended by Barcelona, suffering their first league defeat of the campaign since the opening weekend.

Despite that, they have dropped 14 points from winning positions this term, more than any other team. 

Julian Alvarez, who has a team-high seven LaLiga goals this term, had a very quiet game, managing just one on-target shot worth 0.04 expected goals (xG), but Diego Simeone defended his striker and says he is still positive despite the result.

"Julian, since he arrived here, has always performed at a very high level, but he is also a person and can have bad days," Simeone said.

"I'm happy with the game; we competed very well with a team that plays very well. They were finding a way to hurt us.

"We could have done better defensively, but they are very good. In the second half, we had more chances in which we lacked the forcefulness that sometimes does not appear.

"The 3-1 is perhaps out of what happened in the match. I leave with many positive things for what is to come."