Barcelona 0 Atletico Madrid 2
Tie over already in the first leg? Obviously Barcelona aren’t out yet but this was a huge blow to a team which many thought were favourites for the competition. Barcelona were probably the better team in the first half with Marcus Rashford looking the most likely to score but he just lacked that cutting edge in front of goal that probably would have been there if Raphinha was fit. It looked like it would be goalless heading into half-time until Julian Alvarez played a brilliant ball in behind for Giuliano Simeone to chase after with Pau Cubarsi coming across and taking the Argentinian out as he ran through on goal, the referee initially gave Cubarsi a yellow card but was brought to the VAR monitor and then changed the decision to a red card on second viewing. As if things couldn’t get worse for Barca Julian Alvarez then scored directly from the free-kick to give Atleti the lead just a minute before half-time. Barcelona actually came out the better team in the second half but couldn’t find the equaliser with Musso making some brilliant saves to keep Barca at bay, Simeone then looked at his bench and brought on Sorloth and Baena with the Norwegian grabbing Atleti’s second of the game turning home after a brilliant cross from Ruggeri on the left-hand-side. Atelti managed to keep the two goal lead for the rest of the game and go into next week in firm control of the tie at the Metro Politano.
A Simeone masterclass at the Camp Nou. Barcelona have been unbeaten at home ever since moving back into the Camp Nou winning every game so far since they’ve been back but that record is now gone thanks to Diego Simeone’s side, I said after the game on the weekend that Simeone didn’t give anything away whilst resting players and that clearly payed off today as Atleti did look the fresher team as the game went on despite not dominating the game. Julian Alvarez was the difference maker on the night with his pass in behind getting Cubarsi sent off and then converting from that very free-kick to give Atleti the lead going into half-time. Simeone was brave with the subs in the second half as Barca were piling on the pressure but he put on two attackers with Sorloth getting the second of the game which puts Atleti in such a good position heading back home next week.
Naivety costs Barcelona dearly on the night. I suppose it’s easy to say in hindsight but surely if your Cubarsi you just let Giuliano Simeone run through on goal and trust that your goalkeeper can save you from conceding which Joan Garcia has been doing a lot of this season, it left Barcelona playing a whole half with 10 men along with Cubarsi being suspended for the game next week. How Barcelona didn’t score today I’ll never know with Rashford having multiple opportunities to score along with having a blatant penalty turned away after Pubill clearly handled the ball in the box but we’ll come onto that later on, the attack yet again mostly came down to Lamine Yamal who cut a frustrated figure throughout the game getting tripled team for much of the game. The other Barca attackers have to do so much more with Rashford, Lewandowski, Ferran and Olmo all having poor games leaving Yamal by himself up there to try and do everything in the forward line which he couldn’t do tonight, maybe it’ll be a different story next week.
How on Earth did Barcelona not get a penalty in the second half. The incident took place at 0-1 as Musso passes the ball to Pubill who then put his hand on the ball and passed the ball back to Musso with the Barcelona players trying to tell the referee what happened but he clearly didn’t see what happened as he was so far away from the Atleti box, the real problem is with the VAR who have about 100 screens to see everything but can’t spot a clear handball which we’ve seen given before in the Champions League in the Club Brugge vs Aston Villa game where Tyrone Mings was penalised for the exact same thing, I don’t understand how the VAR didn’t see it but that could have changed everything as Pubill was already on a yellow card so Barcelona could have had a penalty and playing 10 v 10 for the rest of the second half. Another baffling decision in Europe which will no doubt eat up all the headlines in Catalunya over the next few days.
Can Barcelona turn it around next week? If there’s a team that can turn the tie around it’s Barcelona but to be honest I just don’t see it especially with Cubarsi now missing the game next week, Raphinha is an absolutely massive miss in this Barcelona team and his absence tonight was massive in that team. The lack of attacking options off the bench compared to Atleti was crucial in the second half and I don’t think that’s going to change next week at the Metro Politano, they obviously beat Atletico over the weekend away from home but Simeone rested players which I’m sure he’s going to do again with nothing to play for in the league. Barcelona can’t really afford to rest players as they are still fighting for the title despite being seven points clear, they can’t really afford to take their eyes of La Liga with 7 games to go. With all these factors being considered I just don’t see Barcelona turning the tie around next week, I’d be happy to be proved wrong in what’s sure to be a cracker in Madrid next Tuesday, looking forward.