Familiar Champions League woes for 10-man Barcelona as Atletico Madrid win in Catalonia | OneFootball

Barcelona 0-2 Atletico Madrid

Barcelona are on the brink of being eliminated from this season’s Champions League, as they were defeated by Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their quarter-final tie at the Spotify Camp Nou.

It was no surprise to see Barcelona get right into their game in the early stages, as they had a number of chances to take the lead. Marcus Rashford was the main beneficiary of these, but a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeper from Atleti’s Juan Musso meant they were denied.

These failed efforts proved very costly for Barcelona, as they were reduced to 10 men in the 44th minute. Pau Cubarsi brought down Giuliano Simeone when the Atleti man was through on goal, and despite a yellow card being shown on-field, a VAR check confirmed the dismissal for the 19-year-old defender.

And it would go from bad to worse for the Catalans as from the resulting free-kick, Julian Alvarez found the top corner in spectacular fashion. His effort flew over the wall and out of the reach of Joan Garcia, which silenced the Spotify Camp Nou.

Hansi Flick sought to get his side back on level terms by bringing on Gavi and Fermin Lopez at half time, and despite the man disadvantage, they continued to control proceedings – but again, it was without success. And in the end, they were stung again as Alexander Sorloth volleyed in from Matteo Ruggeri’s cross to double Atleti’s lead on 70 minutes.

Atleti have one foot in Champions League semi-finals

Atleti could not have asked for a better evening, and they will more than fancy their chances of finishing the job at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in six days’ time. As for Barcelona, there were shades of that Paris Saint-Germain tie from two years ago here, and they will find it very difficult to progress from here. However, there is no doubt that they will give it a go next Tuesday.