Online Reporter
JULIAN ALVAREZ and Alexander Sorloth’s goals earned Atletico Madrid a commanding 2-0 lead over 10-man Barcelona in a tense Champions League football quarter-final first leg clash on Wednesday night.
The LaLiga leaders were on top in the all-Spanish tie at Camp Nou before Pau Cubarsi was sent-off for bringing down Atletico’s Giuliano Simeone, who was through on goal. Alvarez whipped home the free-kick and Sorloth doubled their advantage with 20 minutes remaining to give Atletico a strong chance of reaching the semi-finals.
Diego Simeone’s side, who have never won the competition, reached the 2014 and 2016 finals but were beaten by rivals Real Madrid on both occasions.
Barca, semi-finalists last season, need to make a huge comeback next Tuesday in Madrid if they are to stand a chance of lifting the trophy they last won in 2015.
Atletico knocked Barca out of the Copa del Rey in the semi-finals in March and this was the second of three meetings between the sides in a space of a fortnight.
Barcelona started well with Marcus Rashford, on loan from Manchester United, their main threat down the left. On the right flank Atletico tried to suffocate teenage star Lamine Yamal with defensive numbers, allowing Rashford more room.
The first chances fell to the England international, who scored against Atletico in LaLiga on Saturday, but Musso denied him.
At the other end Alvarez, who has been linked with a switch to Barcelona in recent months, tested Joan Garcia.
The busy Rashford, constantly escaping beyond Nahuel Molina, volleyed narrowly wide and then rolled a shot into the bottom corner but it was disallowed for off-side against Yamal in the build-up.
Even though the 18-year-old was up against three Atletico defenders he produced some superb skill to break free of their shackles, but Robin Le Normand blocked his shot.
Veteran Atletico midfielder Koke was fortunate to stay on the pitch after fouls on Dani Olmo, Pedri and Yamal were only punished with a yellow card, to Barca supporters’ fury.
Hansi Flick’s side were controlling the game with Atletico talisman Antoine Griezmann quiet against his former team, but a moment of clumsiness from Cubarsi dramatically gave the visitors the upper hand before half-time.
The 19-year-old centre-back, chasing Giuliano Simeone as he ran through on goal to reach a ball in behind Barca’s defence from Alvarez, clattered the Atletico coach’s son from behind. Although referee Istvan Kovacs only produced a yellow card for Cubarsi, he upgraded it to a red after a VAR review.
Worse was to come for Barca, with former Manchester City striker Alvarez whipping the free-kick into the top corner.
Barca coach Flick took action at half-time, withdrawing the quiet Robert Lewandowski and the booked Pedri for energetic midfield tandem Gavi and Fermin Lopez.
It helped the hosts continue to battle well with 10 men, as Barca kept generating chances for Rashford. Yamal sent the forward through on goal but after rounding Musso could only hit the side netting.
Le Normand brought down Yamal on the edge of the box and Rashford’s free-kick was tipped over by Musso.
It was against the run of play again that Atletico snatched their second.
Griezmann and Matteo Ruggieri combined and the latter crossed for target man Sorloth, who outmuscled Gerard Martin and fired past the helpless Garcia.
Musso later saved from Joao Cancelo and Yamal, but Barca could not pull a goal back, leaving the five-time winners in a tough spot ahead of the second leg next Tuesday.
All to do for Liverpool
Liverpool coach Arne Slot admitted his team were well beaten by Paris Saint-Germain in their quarter-final tie, as he defended his decision to play with three central defenders and insisted the Reds still had hope going into the return leg.
“Paris Saint-Germain was by far the better team today and could have scored more than two goals, but the good thing was the Liverpool players showed fighting spirit and kept going,” Slot said after his side went down 2-0 in the French capital. Desire Doue gave PSG an early lead with a deflected strike and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia got their second goal after the hour mark, in a match which saw the hosts have 70 percent possession and 18 attempts on goal to the visitors’ three.
“Of course, you think you can do better, but we were in survival mode for large parts of the game, and maybe also we are in survival mode at this period of the season,” said Slot, whose team have won just one of their last six matches.
“It is really hard against this team. PSG was the better team, but we didn’t give up and that is why we still have a chance in this tie and now we can bring the tie back to Anfield and in between there is still a very important game to play against Fulham.” Slot selected Joe Gomez as a third centre-back alongside Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, while Mohamed Salah was left on the bench and did not feature at all — unlike Alexander Isak, who appeared as a late substitute for his first appearance since December after injury.
“The last part of the game it was more about surviving for us than it was ever about scoring,” Slot said of his decision not to use the Egyptian off the bench. “Mo has so much quality but for Mo to be 20 to 25 minutes defending in his own box, I think it is better for him to save his energy for a lot of games we have coming up.”
The Dutchman is under pressure with his team sitting fifth in the English Premier League and now at real risk of an exit from Europe, unless they can turn the tie around next Tuesday. He explained his decision to change the formation was mainly down to the attacking threat posed by PSG’s full-backs, Achraf Hakimi on the right and Nuno Mendes on the left.
“Milos (Kerkez) had to play almost as a left-winger facing Hakimi, and then there were four defenders left, so you could almost explain it as a 4-3-3,” he said.
“Just think about what would have happened if we had played with real wingers against Hakimi and Nuno Mendes.”
Liverpool must now attempt to bounce back at home to Fulham in the English Premier League before the return against PSG, who have a weekend off after their Ligue 1 game at title rivals Lens was postponed.
“I think we played very well against a top-class side — they changed their system but we are used to that because teams have a habit of changing the way they play against us,” said PSG coach Luis Enrique.
“It is just a shame because we created a lot of chances in the second-half and could have scored more goals.” PSG beat Liverpool in the last 16 last season, going through in a penalty shoot-out at Anfield.
“I have been to Anfield many times as a player and coach and it is always complicated, but mentality is always the same, wherever we play, we always go out to win the game,” said Enrique. — AFP Sport.
