Atlético knocks out Barça

Atlético Madrid reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals on Tuesday, beating Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate despite losing the second leg 2-1 in Madrid. (uefa.com) Barcelona erased Atlético’s first-leg lead inside 24 minutes at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano, with Lamine Yamal scoring in the fourth minute and Ferran Torres leveling the tie in the 24th. Ademola Lookman restored Atlético’s aggregate edge in the 31st minute from a Marcos Llorente cross. (uefa.com) The quarterfinal turned on the first leg at Camp Nou on April 8, when Atlético won 2-0 after Pau Cubarsí was sent off and Julián Alvarez and Alexander Sørloth scored. That left Barcelona needing a two-goal swing in the return. (uefa.com) Atlético is back in the semifinals for the first time since the 2016-17 season, ending a nine-year wait to reach the last four of Europe’s top club competition. The club had not advanced this far since Diego Simeone’s side lost to Real Madrid in the 2017 semifinals. (uefa.com) The result also extended Atlético’s recent edge over Barcelona in knockout meetings between the clubs. UEFA’s pre-match records showed Atlético had already won both of their previous Champions League quarterfinal ties against Barcelona, in 2013-14 and 2015-16. (uefa.com) Barcelona’s task got harder again in the 79th minute on Tuesday, when Eric García was sent off, leaving Hansi Flick’s team with 10 men for the closing stretch. Ronald Araújo then headed over in stoppage time as Barça’s last clear chance slipped away. (uefa.com) The semifinal bracket was already set before kickoff: Atlético or Barcelona would meet Arsenal or Sporting Clube de Portugal in the next round. UEFA lists those semifinals for April 28-29 and May 5-6, with the final scheduled for May 30 at Puskás Aréna in Budapest. (uefa.com) For Atlético, the night followed a season in which the club has repeatedly survived knockout swings. UEFA’s 2025-26 results list shows Simeone’s team also came through a 7-5 aggregate round-of-16 tie against Tottenham Hotspur before eliminating Barcelona. (uefa.com) Barcelona left Madrid with the win on the night, but Atlético left with the place that mattered. After conceding twice early, Simeone’s team needed one goal and a long defensive finish to get back to Europe’s final four. (uefa.com)