La Liga leaders FC Barcelona entered their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal matchup against Atletico Madrid at home on Wednesday night. By the final whistle, the crowd at Camp Nou lay silent as Atletico stunned the home team.
Atletico got two crucial tallies, one from Julian Alvarez in the 45th minute, and the death blow from Alexander Sorloth in the 70th.
The Madrid side put on a defensive clinic against their La Liga counterparts. That effort bought them enough time for Alvarez to notch this brilliant free kick to open the scoring late in the first half.
The blast that came well outside the box beat FC Barcelona keeper Joan Garcia at the top-left corner. The Argentine international sent his side to halftime with a one-goal lead.
Barca came out strong in the second half, looking to notch the equalizer. Meanwhile, Atletico retreated, hoping to hang on.
Unfortunately for Barca, a defensive miscue opened the door for a counterattack from Atletico. Sorloth, who substituted Ademola Lookman in the 61st minute, found the back of the net roughly 10 minutes into his participation.
Sorloth did not miss the brilliant cross, doubling the lead with about 20 minutes left in the game. FC Barcelona tried to make a game of it, but could not get past Atletico’s solid defense.
It’s worth pointing out that Barcelona played the entire second half with just 10 men. Pau Cubarsi got booked at the 44th minute for a challenge from behind on Giuliano Simeone. Here’s a look at the controversial play:
The VAR review confirmed the call on the pitch, upholding the red card on the Barca fullback. It was that kind of a night for FC Barcelona.
Flick, FC Barcelona Not Giving Up
Following the match, FC Barcelona manager Hansi Flick reaffirmed his commitment to advancing to the Champions League semifinal.
Flick had this to say about the unfortunate outcome:
“We lost 2-0 but we had very good opportunities. They played very well but we’re not going to give up.”
Indeed, the Catalan side gave it a go, but came up short in the end. Flick added:
“We believe in ourselves. In the second half we did very well with one less player. [Atleti] have quality up front, so it wasn’t easy to defend against them, but we had chances to win this game.”
That belief will play a major role as FC Barcelona will have to turn the 2-0 score into a rout on the road in order to advance.
Everything Will Be on the Line in Second Leg
With FC Barcelona now down 2-0, everything will be on the line in the second leg of their Champions League series against Atletico.
Barca will need to march into Riyadh Air Metropolitano stadium and pull out a gutsy win. That may be a tall order considering what fans saw in the first leg. Likely, Atletico will dish out more of the same defensive structure at home.
That won’t deter FC Barcelona, as Ronald Araujo noted:
“It’s difficult at their ground, but if anyone can do it then it’s us. We need to have a positive mindset. We’re going there to try and turn things around.”
Well, if there’s any team that can turn things around, it’s Barca. Next Tuesday’s match should be among the best in this Champions League season.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post FC Barcelona Stunned by Atletico at Camp Nou in UCL Matchup appeared first on Heavy Sports.