Atletico Madrid survived an intense Barcelona fight back to progress to the Champions League semi-finals 3-2 on aggregate despite losing a thrilling quarter-final second leg 2-1 in Madrid.
With Barcelona losing 2-0 after the first leg, Lamine Yamal halved the aggregate deficit with just five minutes remaining when he slid the ball under Atleti goalkeeper Juan Musso following a bad touch by former Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet.
Nineteen minutes later, the game was equal when Ferran Torres grabbed onto a Dani Olmo ball and fired a beautiful left-footed strike into the top corner.
A loud home crowd was subdued for seven minutes until Marcos Llorente broke down the right wing and found Ademola Lookman in the box, restoring Atleti’s aggregate lead.
Just five minutes earlier, Barcelona could have been up 3-0, but Musso spread himself to block a diving header from an unmarked Fermin Lopez.
Torres thought he had scored Barcelona’s third goal 10 minutes into the second half when he met a deflection in the area with a cushioned volley into the top corner, but a VAR examination revealed that his effort was offside.
The visitors pushed on but, as in the first leg last week, were reduced to ten men when Eric Garcia tripped Atleti attacker Alexander Sorloth as he raced onto a through pass.
Atletico will meet either Arsenal or Sporting CP in the semi-finals, hoping to reach the final for the first time since 2016.
