04/08/26 04:44:00
Printable Page
04/08 16:42 CDT Atletico wins 2-0 at 10-man Barcelona in 1st leg of Champions
League quarterfinal
Atletico wins 2-0 at 10-man Barcelona in 1st leg of Champions League
quarterfinal
By JOSEPH WILSON
Associated Press
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) --- Atletico Madrid scored twice after Barcelona was
reduced to 10 men to earn a valuable 2-0 road win and take the advantage in
their Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.
Barcelona had hemmed Atletico into its box when the hosts received a double
blow that left Hansi Flick's team down a man and behind a goal just before
halftime.
The game-changing sequence started when Atletico's Giuliano Simeone broke free
to latch onto a rare long ball and Barcelona defender Pau Cubars knocked him
down on the edge of the area with only goalkeeper Joan Garca to beat. After
initially showing Cubars a yellow card, the referee changed it to a red
following a video review.
It got worse for Barcelona seconds later when Julin Alvarez curled the
resulting free kick around the defensive barrier and past a flying Garca for
the 45th-minute lead. Alvarez's goal was his 15th in his last 18 matches in
Europe's elite club competition.
Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford tried to rally Barcelona at Camp Nou and kept
the pressure on Atletico despite being undermanned.
But that fightback effort was undone when substitute striker Alexander Sorloth
shrugged off a challenge by Gerard Martn as he moved to the near post and
tapped in a cross from Matteo Ruggeri to double the lead with 20 minutes to
play.
"We are heading home happy for the win, but we still have a long way to go.
There are 90 minutes ahead," Atletico forward Antoine Griezmann said.
Barcelona's hopes of ending an 11-year wait to add to its five European Cups
now rests on mounting a big win in Madrid on Tuesday.
Also on Wednesday, Paris Saint-Germain beat Liverpool 2-0 in their quarterfinal
first leg.
On Tuesday, Bayern Munich won 2-1 at Real Madrid, while Arsenal won 1-0 at
Sporting Lisbon.
Simeone again frustrates Barcelona in Europe
Wednesday's game at Camp Nou was the second of three meetings between Barcelona
and Atletico in an 11-day span. Barcelona won 2-1 away in the Spanish league to
strengthen its league lead on Saturday. In February, Atletico also edged
Barcelona in the Copa del Rey semifinals.
Barcelona has won five European Cups and Atletico has lost three finals, and
the Catalan club has a better overall head-to-head record over Diego Simeone's
team. But when it comes to the Champions League, Atletico has found the edge.
Simeone's bunch got the better of a star-studded Barcelona led by Lionel Messi
at the same stage in the competition in 2014 and 2016.
And another masterclass in Simeone's bend-but-don't-break soccer has stumped a
Barcelona led by a Yamal who drew oohs and aahs from Barcelona's fans with his
fancy dribbling but was visibly frustrated he couldn't conjure up that shooting
angle or perfect pass.
Atletico lost central defender David Hancko --- the team's most used player
this season --- to what looked like a leg injury on the half-hour mark. He was
replaced by Marc Pubill and the defense didn't notice the difference.
"We gave it our all, but it wasn't to be," Barcelona substitute defender Ronald
Araujo said. "But this team can turn this around. I am convinced of it. It will
be tough at their home, but this team had the character and talent to comeback."
A moment of silence was held before kickoff in memory of Romania soccer great
Mircea Lucescu, who died this week at age 80.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
|
