Atletico Madrid evoke spirit of old as two mad minutes leave Barcelona reeling

Atletico Madrid have one foot in the Champions League semi-finals after two minutes of chaos at the end of the first half laid the foundations for a 2-0 first-leg win over Barcelona at the Camp Nou. Diego Simeone ’s side started the tie as slight underdogs having narrowly lost to Barcelona at the Metropolitano last week, but they will go into next week’s return leg as heavy favourites to progress after a performance that had all the hallmarks of the Simeone masterclasses of old. Anyone who was lucky, if that is the right word, enough to watch the best Simeone sides will have known what to expect from Atletico ahead of a Champions League first-leg tie away at Barcelona, and this time round there were plenty of similarities as a moment of madness from Pau Cubarsi and a piece of brilliance from Julian Alvarez came to define the match.

The hosts were quickly on the front foot, Lamine Yamal and Marcus Rashford providing plenty of threat down the wings and the England international guilty of missing a good chance early on, firing too close to Juan Musso when played clean through. The on-loan winger did get the ball in the net eventually, but Yamal had gone too soon and strayed offside in the build-up. (Getty Images) The visitors remained a threat on the counter – as shown early on when a superb solo run from Julian Alvarez ended with the Argentine forcing a good save from Joan Garcia – but it was Barcelona who began to take control of the game in possession.

Joao Cancelo and Yamal both came close to clear-cut chances, though they were kept at bay by the type of resolute defensive display we’ve become accustomed to seeing from Simeone sides in this competition. The usual signs of an Atletico European away performance were there for all to see in each calculated foul, theatrical dive and last-ditch block, and in the end it was the classic away tactic that unlocked the game for the visitors, as Giuliano Simeone latched onto the clipped ball over the top to go clean through before being clipped by Pau Cubarsi. The 19-year-old defender was initially shown a yellow card but it was quickly upgraded to a red – for denial of a goalscoring opportunity – after a brief VAR review, leaving the hosts depleted and the home crowd furious.

Pau Cubarsi was sent off (REUTERS) It was exactly what Simeone would have been dreaming about in the lead-up to the game, with the killer run delivered by none other than his own son. And while the game had so far followed the classic Simeone playbook, the first goal came via a route we’re less used to seeing from the Rojiblancos . The hosts had been left reeling after the red card and the Camp Nou was paying little attention as Julian Alvarez lined up the free-kick from 25 yards, but the Argentine soon caught the eye as he stepped up to curl a magnificent effort past a sprawling Joan Garcia.