On Tuesday night at the Metropolitano, FC Barcelona saw their journey come to an end in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, eliminated by Atletico Madrid (1-2 in the second leg, 3-2 on aggregate score).
The victory was not enough for Barcelona. Defeated by Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the quarter-finals at Camp Nou (0-2), FC Barcelona failed to overturn the two-goal difference on Tuesday night, despite their success in the Spanish capital (1-2 on Tuesday, 3-2 overall). Their Champions League journey ends here. There will be immense regrets for Hansi Flick’s team, who, like in the first leg, ended the match with a numerical disadvantage after Eric Garcia received a late red card (79th minute). On the other hand, Antoine Griezmann’s Atletico Madrid has reached the semi-finals and will face Sporting or Arsenal in the next round.
“In these moments, true players come out.” In a press conference the day before, Lamine Yamal openly expressed his ambitions: to create an upset at the Metropolitano. The Catalan prodigy lived up to his words. Just five minutes into the game on Tuesday night, Barcelona’s number 10 gave his team the lead. Sent through on goal after a mistake by Clement Lenglet, he slotted a low shot past Musso.
Barcelona then took the lead (0-1) and continued to push in a lively start to the match. Against Diego Simeone’s 5-man defense, Hansi Flick’s team adapted to be effective in tight spaces. And Ferran Torres, who replaced Robert Lewandowski (a big surprise in Barcelona’s lineup), received a good ball from Olmo, before placing it in the top right corner past Musso, who was beaten again (24th minute, 0-2). Barcelona had leveled the score, silencing the home fans. Just before that, Atletico had a chance through Antoine Griezmann, with a shot just wide (22nd minute).
But it took a run from Llorente down the right, who set up Lookman perfectly in front of goal, to reduce the deficit with the only shot on target by Colchoneros (31st minute, 1-2). Atletico was once again virtually qualified, and the Metropolitano erupted. In the final minutes, Lamine Yamal – influential with his passing accuracy – tried to make a difference, but in vain. Barcelona led 2-1 at halftime and needed to score twice more to reach the Champions League semi-finals.
A disallowed goal for Ferran Torres in Madrid.
The second half started at a slower pace compared to the fiery first 15 minutes from Barcelona. On a counterattack led by Julian Alvarez, Lookman struck a powerful shot which narrowly missed the target (53rd minute). Two minutes later, Barcelona attacked again in the Madrid area, and Ferran Torres, in great form, thought he had given Barcelona a two-goal lead with a beautiful curled shot (55th minute). False alarm for Colchoneros. The goal was disallowed after a VAR check.
A dramatic new red card for Barcelona.
As time passed, Barcelona was haunted by their demons from the first leg (and a red card for Cubarsi at the end of the first half). Eric Garcia, caught out by Sorloth, fouled the Norwegian striker, who had just come on a few moments earlier (79th minute). VAR again worked against Barcelona, and Clement Turpin showed a red card to the Barcelona central defender.
In the final minutes, Barcelona continued to push despite Lamine Yamal being less influential. Araujo’s header, coming on shortly before, went over the bar (97th minute), sealing the Catalan hopes (1-2 final score, 3-2 on aggregate).
(In this context, Lamine Yamal is a key player for Barcelona, and Eric Garcia’s red card was a turning point in the match.)
