Atletico Madrid 1 Barcelona 2 (3-2)
Game of the season contender at the Metropolitano. The games against these two sides so far this season have been box-office and we were treated to yet another classic tonight. Barcelona got off to the perfect start as Lenglet made a mistake passing out from the back with the ball finding Ferran Torres who slipped in Yamal who squeezed the ball underneath Musso’s legs to give Barca the lead on the night in the 4th minute. Barca were piling on the pressure to bring the tie level and did so in the 24th minute as Dani Olmo played a lovely pass to Ferran Torres who’s touch took him wide but he still managed to find the net with his left-foot to score a brilliant goal and bring the sides level on aggregate. Just minutes later Fermin Lopez had the chance to put Barca in front in the tie but his header was saved by Musso who inadvertently caught Fermin with his studs to the face which gave the Spaniard a nasty cut and allowed Atletico some breathing room, then just a few minutes after the restart Marcos Llorente was played down the line and raced into the box firing the ball across to Lookman who who finished over Joan Garcia to give Atletico the lead in the tie. Barca fired everything at Atletico in the second half including having a goal ruled out by VAR for offside then shot themselves in the foot again as Eric Garcia was sent off for bringing down Sorloth in what was deemed to be a goal-scoring opportunity, Araujo had a guilt-edge chance in the dying embers but headed over as Atletico survived to reach the semi-finals.
Atletico’s senior players step up when they were needed. It wasn’t easy for Atletico tonight who faced a bombardment from Barcelona for 90 minutes but players like Llorente, Koke and Griezmann stood up dragged Atletico over the line, the midfield in particular of Koke and Llorente were by far the best players on the pitch tonight for Simeone and ran themselves into the ground for their team. The goal came at a crucial time for Atletico with a brilliant pass from Griezmann sending Llorente into miles of space down the right who then had the composure to wait for the perfect moment to pass the ball across to Lookman who was never going to miss from so close, a goal we see often against this Barca high-line and it was enough to see Atleti into the next round. I wouldn’t say it was a masterclass from Simeone as Atletico looked miles off it before that Fermin facial injury around 30 minutes into the game were they easily could have been 0-3 down but it gave his side time to regroup which they scored just a few minutes after that stoppage, onto the semi-finals for Atletico where either Arsenal or Sporting Lisbon await.
Not much more Barcelona could do on the night. I honestly don’t think Barcelona could have done much more to go through in this tie against a strong Atletico Madrid side, they made the perfect start bringing the tie level inside 25 minutes and if that Fermin header goes in I think that’s the game over with how poor Atletico were in that first 30 minutes, Lamine Yamal was brilliant but there was times when he was doing too much particularly in the second half but it was brilliant to watch as a neutral. The one negative for Barcelona was Pedri’s performance which was so disappointing from someone who I view as one of the best midfielders in the world, his giveaway led to the red card for Eric Garcia which was so uncharacteristic from someone who takes such good care of the ball 90% of the time. I know it doesn’t really matter but Dani Olmo winning player of the match was baffling as I thought he was actually quite poor in the game giving the ball away needlessly countless times but maybe I’m being harsh, overall a gutting night for Barcelona as the wait to win another Champions League goes on.
A huge summer awaits for Barcelona. It was always going to be tough for Barcelona to turnaround the tie with Cubarsi being suspended given that they were already light defensively but I though that Gerard Martin and Eric Garcia did alright obviously barring the red card for Garcia in the 80th minute, the lack of a world-class centre-back and a proper number 9 is something Barca will definitely look at in the summer and it is vital that they get the recruitment right if they want to win the Champions League for the first time since 2015. They have been linked with Bastoni as of recent weeks but you’d imagine that Inter will want a high fee given his age, ability on the ball and experience along with still having years left on his contract, I think if Barca were shrewd they do a lot worse than Marcos Senesi who’s contract at Bournemouth is up in the summer. I guess he’s a Bastoni alternative in that they are quite similar and one would be free which we know is a huge plus given Barcelona’s financial situation. The number 9 is another one which they need despite Ferran Torres having a good game tonight you just can’t rely on him and Lewandowski who isn’t getting any younger, I wonder if Julian Alvarez sees himself in that Barca shirt for next season, we’ll have to wait and see.
Who will Atletico Madrid be facing in the semi-finals? Barring an upset at the Emirates tomorrow night it will most likely be Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal in the semi-finals which would be the first time the teams have met in a knockout stage in the Champions League, we have already seen this matchup in the league phase at the Emirates where Arsenal hammered Atleti 4-0 in a comfortable win but a lot has changed since then for both teams. As we already saw last year Arsenal beat PSG in the league phase at the Emirates but were outclassed over both legs in the semi-finals a few months later so I wouldn’t take much from that game in the league phase, the advantage Ateltico have is that they can rest players in the league as their fate is already sealed whereas Arsenal find themselves deep in a title race vs Man City so obviously can’t afford to rest anyone for a Champions League tie. But who knows maybe Sporting can pull off the comeback tomorrow, we’ll wait and see.