Here we were thinking Diego Simeone might have Atletico Madrid pull the shutters down in front of their goal, as if closed for business. That we could see a game dominated by defending in their snarling desire to deny Barcelona any way back into this tie.
Instead, we witnessed an evening of pure entertainment, of mistakes and of brilliance – a proper Champions League scrap in which Arsenal learned their prize for overcoming Sporting CP would be Simeone’s Atletico in the semi-finals rather than Hansi Flick’s Barca.
If it is Mikel Arteta’s side who go through, they may be buoyed by what they learned, especially early on. Atletico were their own worst enemies for the first 24 minutes. Twice they conceded clumsily, both after giving away the ball in dangerous areas as the high-pressing visitors dreamed of completing the comeback, or ‘remontada’ as they say in Spain. It was 2-2 on aggregate and the momentum was with Lamine Yamal and company in that moment.
Then Ademola Lookman scored the Atletico winner after a single ball in behind Barca’s high defensive line, which, as Flick learned over these two legs, can giveth but also taketh.
They had Pau Cabarsi dismissed in last week’s first leg for a last-man foul to deny an obvious goalscoring opportunity, and the same happened again here, with Eric Garcia red carded for copying his team-mate as he fouled Alexander Sorloth in the 79th minute.
Amid this, we had Simeone, of all people, telling the Atletico crowd to calm down. As if he had this in control. As if he knew they would be reaching their first Champions League semi-finals since 2017. But it should be noted by their next opponents in this competition how Barca helped them at crucial times in these legs.
Ademola Lookman celebrates his goal which sent Atletico Madrid through to the last four
Speaking afterwards, Lookman said: ‘We stuck in. We dug in. We’re through to the semis.’
We have seen how away sides can struggle to cope with the Atletico pitch – just look at what happened to Tottenham Hotspur when they slipped their way to a European exit here – and Yamal nearly lost his footing within 30 seconds.
The 18-year-old overcame that wobble as he stayed on his feet, flew forward, and forced Juan Musso into a fine early save.
It was in the fourth minute when the carnage commenced. Clement Lenglet had the ball. He could have looked long. Instead the defender turned, tried to go home to his goalkeeper and was robbed by Yamal, who handed Barca their lead.
It made him the youngest to ever secure 10 goal involvements in the Champions League in a single season, beating Erling Haaland.
After 23 minutes, Atletico gave the ball away again, and Barca scored again, this time through the striker keeping Robert Lewandowski out of Flick’s team in Ferran Torres.
Just like that, Atletico’s lead had disappeared, and Barca should have scored again via Fermin Lopez’s diving header after Simeone’s side surrendered the ball for the umpteenth time. It was saved by Musso, and Lopez was left with blood pouring from his nose after an accidental whack.
That break in play helped Atletico, who, after taking a breather, regained the lead in the tie when they broke Barca’s high line with one pass and Marcos Llorente found Lookman.
Barcelona star Fermin Lopez was left with blood pouring from his nose after this nasty collision as he went for goal
Those balls in behind became a feature of these two legs with Antoine Griezmann and Julian Alvarez forever seeking to drop into deeper spaces to play in other runners. If it is Arsenal – again, if – they will need to beware that threat from Atletico.
Flick was already aggrieved after Barca were denied a penalty in last week’s first leg for Marc Pubill’s handball – so aggrieved that his club logged an official complaint with UEFA.
Flick might be tempted to liken our referee, Clement Turpin, to Dick Turpin now. Barca did not get a spot-kick here for Dani Olmo being sandwiched in the box, and then saw Torres’ goal for 3-3 disallowed for offside before Garcia was shown his straight red via VAR.
After all that Champions League chaos, Atletico await Arsenal or Sporting after the pair meet at the Emirates on Wednesday night.
