Atletico Madrid qualified for the semifinals of the Champions League on Wednesday night with a 3-2 aggregate victory, as its 2-1 home defeat to FC Barcelona proved enough after a 2-0 first-leg win, reported Xinhua.
Barcelona threw everything at Atletico and leveled the tie on the night with goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres, but Ademola Lookman's goal and a magnificent display from goalkeeper Juan Musso ultimately frustrated the visitors.
There were few surprises in either starting lineup, with Gavi returning in midfield for Barcelona while Robin Le Normand and Clement Lenglet started in central defense for Atletico.
It was clear from the outset that neither side would hold anything back, with Yamal weaving his way through the Atletico defense only to be denied by Musso after just 50 seconds.
Musso could do nothing in the fourth minute when Barcelona opened the scoring after Lenglet was caught in possession and Torres slipped the ball through for Yamal to beat Musso with a subtle finish.
Dani Olmo almost doubled Barcelona's lead in the ninth minute, but Musso was able to stick out an arm to deflect the ball wide.
The game quickly took shape, with Barcelona looking to dominate possession and press high, while Atletico searched for counterattacking opportunities down the wings.
Antoine Griezmann and Ademola Lookman combined in the 21st minute, with Griezmann firing just wide from Lookman's pass, before Barcelona doubled its lead on the night three minutes later as Torres scored with a left-footed shot after a high press from Pedri and Olmo created the chance.
It was nearly 3-0 a minute later, with Musso producing another fine save to deny Fermin Lopez's diving header. Play had to be stopped after the chance as Lopez was caught by Musso's boot while throwing himself forward and needed several minutes of treatment for a heavily bleeding nose.
From almost going 3-0 down, Atletico pulled a goal back to make it 2-1 as it found the break it had been looking for, with Griezmann picking out Marcos Llorente, who surged down the wing and crossed for Lookman to sweep home.
There was still time before halftime for Musso to make another big save, closing down Torres as he turned.
Torres had the ball in the net after 54 minutes, but his goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR check as Barcelona continued to press at the start of the second half, with Yamal at the heart of everything.
Atletico looked to freshen things up with Nico Gonzalez and Alex Baena replacing Lookman and Giuliano Simeone, while Robert Lewandowski and Marcus Rashford came on for Barcelona.
Atletico reacted first to the changes, with Llorente shooting just wide and Joan Garcia producing a reflex save to deny Le Normand. Then, as in the first leg, Barcelona was reduced to 10 men with just over 10 minutes left to play when Eric Garcia brought down Alexander Sorloth after a VAR review overturned the original offside call.
The closing minutes brought chances at both ends as two tired teams continued to give everything. Barcelona pumped balls forward, and Ronald Araujo had a great chance to level the tie in the 97th minute, only to send his header over and allow Atletico to book its place in the last four.
- Atletico Madrid
- Champions League
- Semi-final
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
