Atlético Madrid managed to secure their place in the Champions League semifinals for the first time in nearly 10 years after withstanding an early surge from Barcelona on Tuesday.
Despite suffering a 2-1 defeat to the Catalan side, Atlético advanced 3-2 on aggregate thanks to their 2-0 victory in the first leg in Barcelona the previous week.
Barcelona, looking to reach the semifinals for a second consecutive year, struck twice within the first 24 minutes of the match, leveling the series with goals from Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres.
Atlético responded before halftime, with Ademola Lookman scoring from a well-executed counter-attack, assisted by Marcos Llorente.
Barcelona was reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute when defender Eric García received a red card for a foul on Alexander Sorloth while trying to halt a breakaway.
This marks Atlético’s first semifinal appearance since 2017, while Barcelona was eliminated by Inter Milan in last year’s semifinals.
Diego Simeone’s squad will take on Arsenal or Sporting CP in the semifinals. Arsenal leads the tie 1-0 after the first leg in Lisbon and will play the second leg in England on Wednesday.
In another quarterfinal match on Tuesday, Paris Saint-Germain progressed past Liverpool.
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this recap.