Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid : match report and analysis

Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid : match report and analysis

Luis Suarez turned this first-leg Champions League Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid quarter-final on its head with two second half goals after the veteran striker Fernando Torres had put Atletico Madrid ahead only to then get himself sent off before the half-time mark.

Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid : match report and analysis

Suarez has now scored 45 goals this season but Atletico will assumably argue he should have been sent off for kicking out at Juanfran in the first half and also for a clash with Felipe Luis which saw him cautioned in the second.

Diego Simone was also left notably fuming by Torres’ red. He had been booked for a foul on Neymar Jr when he went clumsily in on Sergio Busquets leaving the referee with very little choice having given him no leeway with his first foul.

It was billed as the last thing Barcelona needed following their weekend defeat to Real Madrid and so it accordingly proved with Simeone picking a 4-3-3 formation that rather seemed like a nod to Madrid’s starting XI.

The plan was essentially clear: Fernando Torres would lead the pressing from the front alongside Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco, preventing the trio Gerard Pique, Javier Mascherano and Sergio Busquets from coming out comfortably from the back end.

Pantomime villain Luis Suarez was Barcelona’s sung hero with two goals to fire his side to a comeback victory over Atletico Madrid at the Nou Camp.

But it was Fernando Torres who went from the hero to villain as the Atletico Madrid striker cost his team dearly with a sending off after giving them a shocking early lead in the Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid clash.

Barcelona pushed on but spurned a number of great opportunities before they equalised through Suarez just after the hour.

The Uruguayan forward was criticized roughly for a quiet performance in Saturday’s clásico, but showed his predatory instincts alert to divert home Jordi Alba’s volley just after the hour mark of the Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid encounter.

And the former Liverpool man completed Barca’s comeback again with a thumping header fifteen minutes from time.