Despite Barça’s strong effort, Atléti end their Champions League hopes
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MADRID — How confident was Hansi Flick of turning this UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie around?
“Nine or ten [out of ten],” the Barcelona coach told Spanish TV before kickoff, undeterred by Atlético Madrid‘s imposing 2-0 first-leg lead.
And why not? When you’ve got Lamine Yamal, you’ve got every reason to be positive. The teenager is already so good, so decisive, so often, that it was no surprise to see him dominating this second leg at the Metropolitano right from the start, unfazed by the occasion or the atmosphere.
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“Since I was a kid, I’ve taken on a lot of responsibility,” the 18-year-old said the day before the game. “I’m used to it. I don’t mind.”
Yamal’s first-half performance made the prospect of a comeback possible, putting Barça 2-0 up on the night and 2-2 on aggregate. But the hosts endured, as veterans like Antoine Griezmann and captain Koke were outstanding, and they found a way back.
“It was really hard for us at first today,” Koke said afterwards.
“But we were able to get back into the game. I kept saying, ‘We’re level in the tie, we have to keep going, and get a goal.’ And that’s what we did.”
At kickoff, Atlético would have been determined to keep Yamal and the opening stages as quiet and incident-free as possible, protecting that two-goal advantage. Good luck with that. Just 30 seconds had passed when the teenager picked up the ball, charged straight at the Atlético defense, and saw his shot tipped around the post by goalkeeper Juan Musso.
It was a warning for the home side, if they needed it. But keeping Yamal quiet was never likely to be an option, especially for this makeshift Atlético defense, with Robin Le Normand and Clément Lenglet — neither first-choice for coach Diego Simeone this season — starting at center back.
Four minutes in, Yamal made it 1-0, and the culprit was Lenglet, who often looks an accident waiting to happen when he appears in these high-profile games. Under pressure, the defender gave the ball away. Ferran Torres played in Yamal, who finished through Musso’s legs.
It was the 18-year-old’s 11th Champions League goal. No player has scored more before his 19th birthday, as Kylian Mbappé had only managed 10 at the same age. Already, Atlético were wobbling, the stadium’s raucous pre-match confidence shaken. On 23 minutes, it was 2-0, Torres finishing from Dani Olmo‘s clever through ball.
Torres had been a brave selection from Flick, picked ahead of Robert Lewandowski. Torres went 13 games over two months before scoring against Espanyol last weekend. Here, Flick made the right call, as Torres delivered again.
Only a long break in play, as Fermín López received treatment for an injury to his face, allowed Atlético to compose themselves. Ademola Lookman‘s 31st-minute goal, after Griezmann played in Marcos Llorente on the right, helped the Metropolitano crowd find its voice again. Lookman has now been involved in nine goals since joining Atlético in February, second only to Julián Alvarez.
By halftime, Barcelona had created five big chances, according to Opta. Yamal had scored one of them and created three others, for Olmo, López and Torres. But they were still behind in the tie. Their 2-0 defeat at Camp Nou last week had given them so much to do. Even Lamine’s magic hadn’t yet been enough.
In the second half, there were more heart-in-mouth moments for Atlético — Torres had a goal disallowed for offside, and Olmo shot over the bar when well placed — but Barcelona never quite recovered the Yamal-led momentum of the first-half push.
Eric García‘s late red card, for a last-man shirt pull on substitute Alexander Sørloth, made the task that much harder. It was Barcelona’s second red card of the tie, after Pau Cubarsí’s early dismissal last week, two sendings off which have complicated an already difficult task. In all competitions, Barcelona have received eight red cards this season and three of them have come against Atlético.
In eight minutes of added time, Flick resorted to throwing Ronald Araújo up front, and Barça were almost rewarded when he headed over the bar in the 97th minute. After that, there was time for one last Yamal dribble, a cross to the far post towards Araújo, and it was game over.
“We played well, and we gave everything,” Frenkie de Jong said. “We tried. The feeling is that luck wasn’t on our side. We have to keep going, we’re going in the right direction. With one player fewer, it’s always more difficult.”
Simeone and Atlético’s Champions League record against Barcelona is impeccable, advancing in the quarterfinals in 2014, 2016 and now in 2026. The last two times, Atlético reached the final, only to lose to rivals Real Madrid.
This current edition is a more exciting and more vulnerable team than their reputation — and that of Simeone — might suggest. Already well adrift in LaLiga, they have a Copa del Rey final on Saturday against Real Sociedad — and then will be able to focus all their efforts on this competition.
As for Barcelona and Yamal, their season is almost certain to end with a second consecutive LaLiga title, but hopes of a first Champions League win since 2015 will have to wait another year.
“The next step is to win LaLiga,” said Flick. “We are on the way. It’s not done yet. It’s a big dream to win the Champions League. We have a young team and they can and will improve.”
This post was originally published at ESPN
