Atletico Madrid 1-2 Barcelona (agg: 3-2): Diego Simeone’s men lose on the night but reach Champions League semi-finals
Atletico Madrid reached the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2016/17 after a 3-2 aggregate win over Barcelona.
Diego Simeone’s men took a 2-0 lead into the second leg at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, but their advantage was spectacularly wiped out within 25 minutes after goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres.
A sweeping move was then finished off by Ademola Lookman as Atletico kept their nerve to restore their aggregate advantage and there was little bite from Barca in the second half, despite the introduction of both Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski.
Any final hopes of a comeback were extinguished with 11 minutes of the 90 to play, when Eric Garcia was sent off for bringing down Alexander Sorloth as the last man, with the striker bearing down on goal.
Atletico will face the winner of the tie between Arsenal and Sporting in the semi-finals. The first leg will take place on April 28 or 29, with the second leg on May 5 or 6.
How Atletico reached their first Champions League semi-final in nine years
Speaking in a press conference on Monday, Yamal had insisted he and his Barcelona team-mates “must not think of a comeback as a miracle” – and his own efforts soon proved that statement right.
Lamine Yamal put Barcelona ahead on the night
Within seconds of the first whistle, he had forced goalkeeper Juan Musso to tip his effort around the left-hand post – and inside four minutes, he had scored the opener, pouncing on a Torres pass to slide home.
That made him the youngest player to record 20 goal involvements in Champions League history at 18 years and 275 days old.
Before long, the LaLiga leaders had levelled the tie. Torres took one touch to bring Dani Olmo’s pass under control, a second to create space and a third to emphatically beat Musso from a tight angle.
Ferran Torres made it 2-2 on aggregate
But Atletico soon reminded them their lead on the night was just that and nothing more. They re-established the aggregate lead in the tie when Marcos Llorente capped off a sweeping counter by delivering an inch-perfect cross for Lookman to sweep in.
Shortly before the hour, Barca thought they had restored parity once more when Gavi’s effort was blocked by Clement Lenglet, but looped into the air for Torres to volley into the top corner. He had, however, strayed offside.
Ademola Lookman restored Atletico’s aggregate lead
Rashford and Lewandowski were introduced, but the expected onslaught did not come. Barcelona had nothing to lose and everything to gain, even after Garcia was sent off after referee Clement Turpin had gone to the monitor.
They did get one last chance to force extra time deep into stoppage time, but Ronald Araujo headed over the bar, taking Barca’s hopes of a second straight Champions League semi-final with it.