Barcelona were defeated at home, with a final score of 0-2, by Atletico de Madrid, in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, in a match in which the Catalans played with ten men since the first half. Julian Alvarez, from a free kick and Alexander Sorloth, entered during the European confrontation, a duel that was marked by a series of controversies related to the refereeing of the Romanian center, Istvan Kovacs. This failure represents the first defeat suffered by the “blaugrana” group at the new stadium, in all competitions, with the return to this arena.
The duel at the “Camp Nou” began with a minute of silence held in memory of Mircea Lucescu, the former Romanian coach who died at the age of 80, remembered as the third most successful coach in football history, after Sir Alex Ferguson and Pep Guardiola. In the first minutes of the match, Marcus Rashford missed two huge chances to score, being blocked by Juan Musso each time.
Later, Julian Alvarez insisted on getting possession of a ball, and the Argentine footballer entered the Catalans’ box, finishing with a shot sent down the ground, to the far corner, but Joan Garcia intervened and parried the ball. Ademola Lookman entered the center, passed to the right side for Giuliano Simeone, but the execution of the son of the coach of Atletico de Madrid shot far past the opposing goal. Marcus Rashford came close to scoring in the 14th minute, when Eric Garcia’s cross from the right was volleyed in by the Englishman, but just wide of the goal.
Barcelona opened the scoring at the end of the first quarter of an hour, when Pedri passed deep, Lamine Yamal picked up the ball, passed it in front of the goal for Marcus Rashford to score, but the Briton’s effort was ruled out for offside. The same Manchester United loanee was on the end of a pass from Dani Olmo, but his dribbling effort was blocked wide by Juan Musso. Gerard Martin tried his luck with a long-range shot, but his attempt to score went wide of the Atletico Madrid goal.
Pau Cubarsi was sent off in the 43rd minute of the match at the Camp Nou after fouling Giuliano Simeone in the last defender position, leaving the Catalans with 10 men. The scoreboard was cleared after a free kick was impeccably executed by Julian Alvarez from the edge of the box, and Juan Garcia was unable to block the Argentine’s shot, giving Atletico Madrid the lead at that point. Robert Lewandowski tried to put the opposing goal in danger when he received a pass from Joao Cancelo, turned and shot, but Juan Musso caught the ball.
Marcus Rashford came close to equalising in the 50th minute when Lamine Yamal’s through ball found him in space, but his finish, after dribbling past the “rojiblancos” goalkeeper, went into the side netting. The Englishman fired a dangerous free kick, but Juan Musso was on hand to block. Atletico Madrid’s second goal came in the 70th minute at the Camp Nou, when Alexander Sorloth headed home Matteo Ruggeri’s cross.
Ronald Araujo came on and was involved in a set piece in the 73rd minute, but his header went wide. Following this success in Catalonia, Atletico Madrid start with the first chance to qualify for the semi-finals of the continental competition, with the return leg to be played in the Spanish capital next week. Until that match, Barcelona will play at home against Espanyol in what is a local derby, while the visitors will travel to Seville.