Atlético de Madrid has qualified for Champions League semi-finals despite losing at the Metropolitano Stadium against FC Barcelona 1-2, 3-2 on aggregate. Their Sixth Champions League title continues to elude Barcelona, eleven years since the 2015 trophy won by Luis Enrique and counting, while Atleti reaches the UCL semi-finals for the first time in nine years, seventh European Cup semi-finals appearance overall.
The match couldn't have started better for Barça. Lamine Yamal, who even changed his profile picture to invoke some "LeBron James" energy, when he led the Cavaliers to a similarly heroic comeback in the NBA Finals in 2016, scored after only four minutes. Ferran Torres added another 20 minutes later: suddenly, Atleti lost all the lead they carried from the first leg, where they won 2-0 and the match was equalised for over 70 minutes. A brand new knockout.
Sadly for Barça, joy didn't last much as Ademola Lookman scored from a pass by Marcos Llorente in a counter-attack almost immediately after Ferran's goal and a long pause as the doctors checked on Fermín López, who was bleeding after an impact with Atleti's goalkeeper Musso.
Lookman's was the last goal of the match, but it was still thrilling, with Barça pushing hard for a draw, including a goal ruled out by VAR, but run out of gas in the last 20 minutes of the match. Eric García, who replaced Pau Cubarsí who was sent off last week, also saw a direct red card in the 79th minute, after the referee checked on VAR. Atleti dominated the match in the final stages, but Barça still had chances to send the match to overtime.
In the end, Atleti eliminates Barcelona again, one month after doing so in the Spanish Cup semi-finals, and will face Arsenal or Sporting Lisbon at the end of the month. Incredibly, it is the third time Simeone's Atleti eliminates Barça in the Champions League, after 2014 and 2016. In both cases, they reached the final, losing to Real Madrid.