What is the story about?
Barcelona’s journey in this season’s Champions League has come to an end at the quarter-final stage in heartbreaking fashion despite a 2-1 win over Atlético Madrid in Tuesday’s second leg at the Metropolitano, which was not enough to overturn the two-goal deficit from the first leg. Barça played a brilliant first half and continued to fight until the very end despite going down to 10 men at the end, but Ademola Lookman’s goal proved the difference and sent the Colchoneros to the semi-finals with
a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Reactions & Observations
- Barça made an outstanding start to the game, with Lamine Yamal almost scoring 45 seconds into the action and setting the tone for a Blaugrana team that played with tremendous energy and intensity, suffocating Atlético’s buildup and not giving them an inch of space anywhere on the pitch.
- That relentless drive got them the first goal just four minutes in as Yamal won the ball high up the pitch and received an assist from Ferran Torres to put Barça ahead with a gorgeous finish through Juan Musso’s legs.
- Barça didn’t stop and continued to create huge chances, with Musso having to make a great effort to stop Dani Olmo from doubling the lead. Olmo did play a part in a goal, though, as he assisted Ferran who scored a fantastic left-footed goal to make it all square on aggregate and ignite the tie for good.
- The Catalans were really good defensively but made one mistake that cost them dearly as Marcos Llorente got in behind the defense and gave Ademola Lookman a tap-in, and Atleti were able to breathe a huge sigh of relief as they regained control of the tie.
- Hansi Flick’s team were unaffected by the goal and continued to attack with reckless abandon, and had multiple huge chances as well as a very strong penalty shout when Llorente clearly pushed Olmo in the back inside the box, but the referee and VAR decided against the spot kick.
- Barça were winning the game but still losing the tie at halftime, but their first half performance was just sensational and gave them real hope that a comeback was still possible in the final period.
- The visitors continued to play great football to begin the final period and even restored their two-goal lead for a few seconds, but Ferran’s second of the night was denied by the offside flag.
- The disallowed goal clearly impacted Barça who were unable to sustain the same level of pressure that we saw in the first hour of the game, and Atlético slowly but surely started to offer more threat going forward. Joan Garcia made a sensational save to stop an equalizer from point-blank range against Robin Le Normand, and we were set up for a wild finish.
- And then, as it always seems to happen to Barça in the Champions League, they shot themselves in the foot: Eric Garcia pulled Alexander Sorloth back when the Atlético striker was through on goal, and the Barça defender was given a straight red after a VAR check. Just like Pau Cubarsí last week, it was deserved, and Eric had no one but himself to blame.
- Barça were a man down with very little time to score a goal to force extra time, and Flick made very aggressive substitutions at the end and played Ronald Araujo and Robert Lewandowski as strikers up top. Barça sent as many crosses into the box as possible, and their European lives came down to a wide open Araujo header from less than 10 yards out. But the Uruguayan missed the target completely, and that turned to be Barça’s last chance. The final whistle came, their European journey ends in heatbreak, and Barça’s wait for a Champions League trophy goes on.
- Not gonna lie, friends. This one hurts a lot.
