{"id":1829,"date":"2026-04-15T04:30:59","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T04:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/?p=1829"},"modified":"2026-04-15T04:30:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T04:30:59","slug":"atletico-resist-barca-comeback-toreach-champions-league-semis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/atletico-resist-barca-comeback-toreach-champions-league-semis\/","title":{"rendered":"Atletico resist Barca comeback toreach Champions League semis"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

AFP<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Atletico Madrid sent 10-man Barcelona crashing out of the Champions League and reached
the final four with a 3-2 aggregate victory despite Tuesday’s 2-1 quarter-final second leg
defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres fired visitors Barca ahead inside 24 minutes but Ademola
Lookman’s strike gave Atletico the edge in the gripping all-Spanish tie once again after their
2-0 win in the first leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diego Simeone’s side returned to the semi-finals for the first time since 2017 by holding on
against the La Liga champions in a compelling and bloody battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barcelona defender Eric Garcia was sent off for bringing down Alexander Sorloth as he ran in
on goal in the final stages, hampering their chances of finding a third goal to force extra-time.
Atletico, who have never won the competition and lost the 2014 and 2016 finals with Simeone
at the helm, will face Arsenal or Sporting Lisbon in the semi-finals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“(We’re) very happy, knocking out a great Barca side. We had a great game away\u2026 it was
really hard for us at the start (of this one), but the team knew how to get back on its feet,”
Atletico midfielder Koke told Movistar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Atl\u00e9tico de Madrid scores one of the goals during the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, eliminating Barcelona. (PHOTO: AFP\/ \u00d3SCAR DEL POZO) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Barcelona last won the Champions League in 2015 and their wait for a sixth crown continues,
but midfielder Frenkie de Jong said that the club was on the right path despite their
elimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think we had a very good game, we gave our lives out there, we tried everything,” said the
Dutchman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I feel like luck was not on our side. We have to continue — we’re on a good path, we’re
growing every year.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barca coach Hansi Flick benched forwards Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski for
workhorses Torres and Gavi, looking to press Atletico relentlessly in the sixth match between
these sides this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Goalkeeper Juan Musso tipped a Yamal effort around his post after just 32 seconds, with
Barca roaring out of the blocks in a fiery atmosphere at the Metropolitano stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The teenage winger fired the visitors ahead after just four minutes when he harried Clement
Lenglet into giving the ball away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Torres nudged it back to Yamal who slipped a low shot through Musso’s legs to hush the
home fans and ignite Barca’s attempted comeback bid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dani Olmo nearly grabbed a second but Musso was able to reach his attempted lob as Barca
continued to dominate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antoine Griezmann had a shot deflected wide as Atletico showed occasional flashes, mostly
through enterprising winger Lookman, who gave Jules Kounde a difficult night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barcelona doubled their lead in the 24th minute to level the tie on aggregate when Torres left<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenglet trailing, reached Olmo’s pass and fired across Musso into the top corner.
Fermin Lopez could have notched Barca’s third but Musso clawed out his header and left the
midfielder bleeding after his boot caught the Spaniard in the face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Atletico pulled their way back into the game in the 31st minute after Barca switched off
defensively for the first time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marcos Llorente charged in down the right behind the Catalans’ high defensive line and
crossed for Lookman to convert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another red card<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Barcelona were frustrated early in the second half when Torres volleyed home but the goal
was disallowed for offside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flick sent on Rashford and Lewandowski with around 20 minutes remaining to find the goal
that last season’s semi-finalists needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barca stopper Joan Garcia made a fine save with his leg to thwart Robin Le Normand from
close range as Atletico almost pulled level on the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matteo Ruggieri was left with blood streaming down his face after Gavi caught him with an
elbow, with tensions rising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The game spun away from Barca when Eric Garcia was sent off for clipping Sorloth’s heels as
he ran through on goal, similar to Pau Cubarsi’s red card in the first leg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flick threw centre-back Ronald Araujo up front for the final stages but there was no way back
and Atletico gritted their teeth through eight minutes of stoppage time before the
celebrations could begin.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diego Simeone’s side returned to the semi-finals for the first time since 2017 by holding on against the La Liga champions in a compelling and bloody battle.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[66,65,67],"class_list":["post-1829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport","tag-atletico-de-madrid","tag-barcelona","tag-champions-league"],"blocksy_meta":[],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1829"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1834,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1829\/revisions\/1834"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pittglobalnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}