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 Cubarsí knocked him down on the edge of the area with only goalkeeper Joan García to beat. After initially showing Cubarsí a yellow card, the referee changed it to a red following a video review.
It got worse for Barcelona seconds later when Julián Álvarez curled the resulting free kick around the defensive barrier and past a flying García for the 45th-minute lead. Álvarez’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 Martín 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.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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