Barcelona ran out of steam at the crucial moment as they fell short in a stirring comeback attempt in their Champions League quarter-final second leg against Atletico Madrid. Trailing 2-0 on aggregate after the first instalment, a Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres-inspired Barca were unable to see off their domestic rivals despite levelling the tie in a scintillating first half at the Metropolitano.
Yamal was the protagonist literally from the first whistle, forcing a save after 30 seconds before opening the scoring inside four minutes as Clement Lenglet’s error was brutally punished. Dani Olmo then spurned a one v one in a frantic opening.
Antoine Griezmann came close to settling the rattling Atletico nerves, but just moments later it was 2-0 as the hosts failed to clear and Torres was played in to finish with aplomb. Atleti’s capitulation was almost complete straight from the restart as another Lenglet giveaway led to Fermin Lopez’s point-blank header drawing an excellent stop from Juan Musso.
Out of nowhere, though, Diego Simeone’s side hit back to restore their aggregate lead, as a blistering counterattack ended with Ademola Lookman converting a pinpoint cross on the half-hour mark. There was still time for Torres to have another effort smothered in a breathless first period.
The second half would be a different story altogether, as Atleti finally found their feet and moved into the ascendency while their visitors ran out of steam. Lookman fired just wide and Robin Le Normand went close twice in quick succession either side of another Torres goal being disallowed for offside.
Barca’s fate was sealed with 10 minutes left on the clock when Eric Garcia was given his marching orders for a last-man foul on Alexander Sorloth, following a VAR review of his trip and an initial offside call. The Blaugrana’s final chance to level the tie fell to the wrong man, as substitute Ronald Araujo nodded over from mere yards out with 90 seconds of added time remaining, consigning his side to an agonising 3-2 aggregate defeat.
GOAL rates Barcelona’s players from the Metropolitano…
