Ten-man Barcelona lost 2-0 to Atletico Madrid in their UEFA Champions League quarter-final first leg match at the Camp Nou stadium on Wednesday night.
The Catalans dominated the match and created enough chances to win by a wide margin, but Hansi Flick’s side were dazed by Atletico’s grit and a red card, allowing Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth to hand Diego Simeone’s side a healthy advantage going into the second leg.
Both teams made a frantic start to the first half with Alvarez testing the goalkeeper after a mazy run, but Barcelona settled into the encounter and dominated the rest of the half.
They were unable to convert several chances created and English winger Marcus Rashford the most culpable, squandering several opportunities, with Joao Cancelo and Robert Lewandowski also going close.
The momentum of the match swung in Atletico’s favour when Pau Curbasi was shown a straight red card for denying Giuliano Simeone a goal-scoring opportunity as the last defender, and Alvarez stepped up to dispatch the resultant free-kick into the top corner to put Atletico 1-0 ahead at halftime.
Barcelona continued to push for the leveler despite the man disadvantage, Rashford with a free-kick pushed onto the bar as Barca continued to push forward with their fans willing them on.
However, it was Atletico that doubled their lead through substitute Alexander Sorloth, the striker swept home Matteo Ruggeri’s with a first-time finish to double the visitors’ lead on 70 minutes.
Atletico maintained their two-goal advantage and saw out the match to maintain their unbeaten run against Barcelona in UCL knockout phase, and also claimed a first win at the Camp Nou in 20 years.
In France, UCL champions Paris Saint-Germain defeated Liverpool 2-0 with goals from Desire Doue and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, handing Luis Enrique’s side a considerable advantage going into next week’s second leg at Anfield.