Winner in the first leg 2-0 on the pitch of FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid resisted Barça's desire to come back. After conceding two quick goals, Lookman saved his team in this quarter-final second leg of the Champions League.
Published on: 04/14/2026 - 11:12 p.m. Modified on: 04/14/2026 - 11:24 p.m.
Atlético held on. Diego Simeone's men qualified for the semi-finals of the Champions League by eliminating FC Barcelona (quarter-final first leg 2-0, second leg 1-2), Tuesday April 13 at the Metropolitano in Madrid.
Barça "did not need a miracle", according to their coach Hansi Flick, simply a "perfect match". It was, in the end, only good, then completely ruined by a 13th red card in the last ten years in C1, this time for Eric Garcia (79th), who came to destroy Barcelona's hopes.
The reigning Spanish champion will be able to boast, as in the first leg, of having surely been better than his evening opponent, still chillingly efficient. But that was not enough, as in 2014, as in 2016, and as at the beginning of March, in the semi-final of the Coupe du Roi (4-0 defeat in the first leg, 3-0 victory in the return).
We must believe that this Atlético, back in the last four for the first time since 2017, is the kryptonite of the Catalan giant, the team which best manages to sanction its ultra-offensive approach. The same approach which could have paid off from the 32nd second of play, without an initial save from Argentine goalkeeper Juan Musso in front of Catalan prodigy Lamine Yamal, brilliant then not sufficiently supported to achieve the feat (1st).
Entrance surgical Yamal
Not impressed by the stakes, nor by the pressure that weighed on his shoulders, the 18-year-old winger launched his mission just three minutes later with a goal that he went for alone, like a grown-up, at the feet of French defender Clément Lenglet, after a relay with Ferran Torres (4th, 1-0).
A dream start for the young left-hander, who came very close to becoming a decisive passer for Dani Olmo, without a good outing from Juan Musso (9th), before Griezmann responded, for the first time, with a left-footed shot blocked by Gerard Martin (22nd).
The few thousand Catalan supporters who made the trip surely thought they had touched the feat, a few seconds later, when Olmo perfectly launched Ferran Torres, who put the two teams back on level terms with a superb finish from the left (24th, 2-0).
Everything was then restarted, and the Colchoneros, very close to the KO in the following action, were saved once again by Musso, who deprived Fermin Lopez of a third goal, and Yamal of another decisive gesture from the outside of the left foot, which has become his signature (25th).
Hit in the face after the involuntary blow from the Rojiblanco goalkeeper, the young Spanish midfielder remained on the ground for several minutes, with a bloody nose, before returning to his place, which somewhat cut off Barcelona's momentum.
While they thought they had done the hardest part, Hansi Flick's men, although warned for this sixth confrontation of the season with those of Diego Simeone, were, once again, pierced in two passes by the vista Griezmann and the speed of Marcos Llorente and Ademola Lookman, clinical to reduce the gap and restore the advantage to his team (30th, 2-1).
The Catalans, who claimed in vain for a penalty on Olmo (40th), were then unable to confirm their very good start to the match and experienced false joy upon returning from the locker room, on an opportunistic volley from Torres, finally flagged offside (55th) after coming up against Musso in the previous action (54th).
Their hopes of a "comeback" ended up disappearing in a situation that came to symbolize Barcelona's tactics - and the season, with a defense still on a thread and Eric Garcia in the wrong role, logically excluded after a foul on Alexander Sorloth who was heading for goal (79th).
A new punishment for Hansi Flick's men, which this time must provoke a reaction, or at least, an adaptation, to dream of Europe again next season.
Antoine Griezmann's teammates will meet the winner of the confrontation between Arsenal and Sporting Portugal in the semi-final (the Londoners won 1-0 in the first leg and second leg on Wednesday evening).
With AFP
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