Atletico Madrid booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals despite a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona on Tuesday.
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, the Blaugrana mounted a spirited comeback at the Metropolitano, even finishing the match with 10 men. However, a decisive strike from Ademola Lookman ensured Atletico advanced 3-2 on aggregate.
Lamine Yamal signaled intent early with a warning effort and soon made it count, calmly finishing under Juan Musso after latching onto a pass from Ferran Torres.
Torres then turned scorer in the 24th minute, firing in emphatically to level the tie. Fermin Lopez nearly put Barca ahead on aggregate but was denied by Musso, who also suffered a blow to the face in the process.
Atletico responded in the 31st minute as Marcos Llorente surged down the right and squared for Lookman, who finished first time to restore their advantage.
Barcelona thought they had equalized again early in the second half through Torres, but the goal was ruled out for offside after a deflection from Gavi.
Their task became even tougher in the 79th minute when Eric Garcia was sent off following a VAR review for bringing down substitute Alexander Sorloth.
In the closing moments, Ronald Araujo had a golden chance to force extra time, but he headed over from close range, sealing Barcelona’s elimination.
Data Debrief: Lookman outshines Lamine’s slice of history
On his 150th appearance for Barcelona in all competitions, Lamine Yamal made a flying start. His goal, coming at 3:51, was the club’s earliest in a Champions League knockout match since Lionel Messi scored against Chelsea in March 2018 (02:06).
That strike also took Yamal to 20 goal involvements in the competition. At just 18 years and 265 days old, he became the youngest player ever to reach that milestone in Champions League history.
However, it was Ademola Lookman who ultimately proved decisive. He has now contributed directly to nine goals in 17 appearances for Atletico Madrid. Since making his debut in February, only Julian Alvarez (11) has recorded more goal contributions for Diego Simeone’s side.
Hansi Flick was left furious with the red card shown to Eric Garcia, which may have been the game’s turning point. Discipline once again proved costly for Barcelona, who received a red card in both legs of a Champions League knockout tie for the first time.
Atletico, meanwhile, dug deep in typical fashion under Simeone. While both sides registered 15 shots apiece, Barcelona created the better chances with 2.28 expected goals compared to Atletico’s 1.71—though it was the hosts who made theirs count.
