Fernando Torres opened the scoring in the 25th minute, but quickly went from hero to villain for Atletico when two reckless tackles saw him sent off in the 35th.
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The second leg of this quarter-final tie takes place at Vicente Calderon Stadium in Madrid on Wednesday, April 14 from 4:45am (AEST).
The German champions are seeking a fifth successive Champions League semi-final appearance having lost the 2012 final on their own pitch to Chelsea, lifted the trophy at Wembley in 2013 and then bowed out in the last four to Real Madrid and Barcelona in the last two years.
The Spain worldwide was also adamant his team would bounce back from the defeat to Real, but said Atletico would pose his side even more problems than Zinedine Zidane’s men did.
The Uruguayan kicked out at defender Juanfran in the first half in an off-the-ball incident and, after equalising just past the hour mark, got a yellow card for striking Filipe Luis in the face moments before heading the victor in the 74th minute. “We have to go out as strong as possible for the first half-hour, try to get on top of the opposition and to get a goal”. Let us know in the comments section below.
Atletico succeeded in hunkering down until Barcelona picked up the pace of its passing and hemmed them into its box in the second half.
Suarez now has eight goals in the Champions League this season and 45 in all competitions.
“On the personal side I am very sad and feel very responsible”. The only “but” I would give it is that we didn’t score another goal.
However, with the home side putting Atletico under heavy pressure for nearly the entirety of the second period, the visitors must be pleased they only have a one-goal deficit to make up in the second leg.
But the game turned when Torres was sent off before half-time for two needless bookings inside seven minutes.
“We only had a few good chances”, said Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
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Diego Simeone’s team, who are six points behind the La Liga leaders after trashing Real Betis 5-1, looked unsafe on the break as Antoine Griezmann fired a low shot just wide from around 22 yards out.
