Atletico Madrid knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League on Wednesday night after Antoine Griezmann’s first-half header levelled the tie on aggregate and his second-half penalty, after Andres Iniesta handled in the area, made sure there was no need for the away goals rule.
Atletico only needed one goal and it came early with Jordi Alba turning with the ball at his feet down by the corner flag and playing a sloppy pass infield that Atletico’s pack of hungry wolves pounced on. It was Saul Niquez who got to the ball first and from his cross Griezmann headed past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
On the day that Karim Benzema had announced he would not be playing for France this summer one of the men who will fill the gap had scored his first goal against Barcelona in an Atletico shirt. Griezmann, Atletico Madrid’s top scorer this season, has become the finished article under Diego Simone and he had put the home side in control of the tie.
It was the perfect time to score sending Luis Enrique’s team down the tunnel fearing the worst. As things stood they were going out. Luis Suarez immediately clattered into Diego Godin and his Uruguayan national team-mate rolled around holding his knee, while Atletico players swarmed to protest the fact that the referee had kept his cards in his pocket.
Suarez was buffeted between Gabi and Juanfran with not a Barcelona player in sight to stand shoulder to shoulder with him. It really seemed like they were not up for the fight. They played their possession football for what was left of the half and Neymar tested Oblak with a shot from distance but whenever Atletico won the ball back there was a threat on the break from Yannick Carrasco, Griezmann and Saul.
The first half had a been a blur for Barcelona. Atletico had forced four chances in the first ten minutes. A Filipe Luis cross had been headed goalwards by Griezmann and saved by Ter Stegen in the most clear-cut of them. Greizmann was a constant threat. He released Carrasco down the right but was unable to get on the end of his cross as it flashed across the face of the goal.
Barcelona had tried to play keep-ball to take some of the sting out of their opponents and subdue the atmosphere but there is no ‘mute’ button on the Vicente Calderon on big Champions League nights. The fans were still making the same noise that greeted the players on to the pitch when they left at the break.
AC/DC’s Highway to Hell greeted the players as they emerged after the interval – that must have resonated with Barcelona’s players as they went back into the fray. When the stadium sound system had done its bit the supporters took over again and the players once more responded to the wall of noise. Saul headed onto the bar from a corner as Atletico kept pouring forward – at the other end there was no news from Lionel Messi.