A thriller in Madrid ended with the hosts celebrating despite a defeat on the night. Re-live the contest with the best facts and Opta data in our Atlético Madrid vs Barcelona stats page.
Atlético Madrid edged their way into the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2016-17 despite going down 2-1 at home to a resurgent Barcelona on Tuesday.
Trailing 2-0 from last week’s first leg, the Blaugrana, who ended the contest at the Metropolitano with 10 men, fought back bravely, but Ademola Lookman‘s goal was enough to seal a 3-2 aggregate win for Atlético.
Lamine Yamal fired a warning shot in the opening two minutes, and the youngster took full advantage of his next chance, calmly slotting under Juan Musso after racing onto Ferran Torres‘ pass.
Ferran went from provider to scorer in the 24th minute, lashing in brutally to drag Barça level in the tie.
Fermín López looked set to put Barça ahead on aggregate when he met a cross from the right, but he could not beat the advancing Musso, with the Spain international taking an accidental boot to the face to compound his frustration.
Atlético made their luck count in the 31st minute, with Marcos Llorente driving down the right and squaring perfectly for Lookman, who drilled home first time.
Barça thought they had levelled the tie once more as Ferran hammered beyond Musso early in the second half, but he had just strayed offside before Gavi’s shot deflected into his path.
And Barça’s task was made even harder in the 79th minute as, after a VAR check, Eric García was sent off for the denial of a goalscoring opportunity, having hauled down substitute Alexander Sørloth.
Ronald Araújo looked all set to send the game to extra-time in the dying stages, only to head over from six yards out.
Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona xG map
Lookman Overshadows Yamal’s Slice of History
On his 150th appearance for Barcelona in all competitions, Yamal started in inspired fashion. His goal, timed at 3:51, was Barcelona’s earliest strike in a Champions League knockout match since Lionel Messi scored against Chelsea in the round of 16 in March 2018 (02:06).
It took Yamal to 20 goal involvements in the Champions League. At the age of 18 years and 275 days, he became the youngest player to hit this milestone in the competition’s history.
Lamine Yamal UCL goal involements
Yet it was ultimately Lookman who had the final say. He has now been directly involved in nine goals in 17 Atlético appearances; since the forward’s debut for the club in February, only Julián Alvarez (11) has more goal contributions for Diego Simeone’s team.
Hansi Flick was left seething by García’s red card, and the German may well see that as the real turning point, with ill-discipline again coming back to cost the Blaugrana. Barcelona received a red card in both legs of a Champions League knockout tie for the first time.
Atlético just about did enough in a typically dogged display. Although Simeone’s men did match Barcelona for shots (15 each), the Blaugrana created chances worth 2.28 expected goals to their hosts’ 1.71.
Our Opta match centre delivers you all the Atlético Madrid vs Barcelona stats from their Champions League meeting at Estadio Metropolitano on Tuesday.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own match analysis.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Atlético Madrid vs Barcelona Post-Match Facts
Atlético Madrid attacker Antoine Griezmann made his 100th UEFA Champions League start. Karim Benzema (132) is the only Frenchman with more (Patrick Evra also on 100).
Atlético Madrid’s Ademola Lookman netted his eighth UEFA Champions League goal, with Victor Osimhen (16) and Obafemi Martins (9) the only Nigerians with more in the competition.
Barcelona’s Ferran Torres scored and assisted in a UEFA Champions League game for the fourth time and for the second time in the knockout stages after doing so for Valencia against Atalanta in the round of 16 in March 2020.
Barcelona are the first Spanish team to go 15 UEFA Champions League games in a row without keeping a clean sheet.
Barcelona have been eliminated from the UEFA Champions League in seven of their last 10 quarter-final appearances in the competition.
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