Barca 0-1 Atletico: A wonder goal from Alvarez

Immediately after Barca were reduced to ten men due to Pau Cubarsi's red card, Julian Alvarez scored from a free kick, giving Atletico the advantage in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals on the morning of April 9th.

Barcelona are in trouble.

In their most recent meeting last weekend, Barcelona won 2-1 thanks to a late goal from Robert Lewandowski, extending their lead over Real Madrid to seven points in the league table.

Under the guidance of coach Hansi Flick, Barcelona is showing impressive form, remaining unbeaten in all competitions for almost two months. Notably, they recently thrashed Newcastle with an aggregate score of 8-3 in the Champions League round of 16, including a 7-2 victory at home.

However, the history of their encounters in the Champions League does not favor Barcelona. In their last two quarter-final matches against Atletico, the Catalan team suffered defeats on both occasions (in the 2013/14 and 2015/16 seasons). Overall, Barca have only won 1 out of their last 4 matches against this opponent in the continental competition.

Barcelona faced many difficulties when they met Atletico. Photo: Reuters .

On the other side of the pitch, Atlético Madrid entered the match in poor form, having lost three consecutive games in all competitions, including a defeat against Barcelona in La Liga. Nevertheless, Diego Simeone's team showed their resilience by overcoming Tottenham with a 7-5 aggregate score in the round of 16, despite losing 2-3 in the second leg.

Currently, Atletico are fourth in La Liga and almost certainly have secured a place in European competition next season, so they can focus all their efforts on the Champions League as well as the upcoming Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad.

Despite being considered the underdog in terms of form, Atletico still have reason to be confident thanks to their good head-to-head record against Barcelona in the Champions League. Given the tense nature of a knockout match, this promises to be a battle of wits between Barcelona's fiery attacking style and Atletico Madrid's characteristic tenacity and pragmatism.

The difference between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid: Barcelona and Atletico Madrid enter the Champions League quarter-final with two opposing philosophies, thus creating the allure of this clash.

Source: https://znews.vn/barrca-0-1-atletico-sieu-pham-cua-alvarez-post1641647.html