Published: April 9, 2026 at 9:12 am
Atletico Madrid capitalised on Pau Cubarsí’s dismissal to take a two-goal lead in their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie against Barcelona at Camp Nou, while Paris St Germain avenged their home defeat by Liverpool in last season’s knockout stage to secure a first-leg advantage at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Wednesday night.
“I don’t think my Atletico had ever won at Camp Nou. It’s very difficult. They’re arguably the best team in Europe, along with Paris and Bayern. Through good teamwork, we were able to capitalise on key moments in the match. The second goal gave us more confidence, and it’s a shame we couldn’t extend our lead further,” said Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone.
Barcelona made a bright start with Marcus Rashford and Lamine Yamal buzzing down the wings but it was Atletico, who broke the deadlock as the hosts suffered two setbacks on the brink of half-time.
The first came as Pau Cubarsí was dismissed in the 44th minute for a trip on Giuliano Simeone, the second a minute later when Julián Alvarez curled the resulting free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.
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Hansi Flick’s side responded well after the break, Rashford rounding Juan Musso in the 50th minute but shooting into the side-netting before forcing a fingertip save with a dipping free-kick minutes later, but the visitors held firm before again showing their clinical quality.
“We gave everything but today we weren’t lucky. It is not done yet. We will try, we will fight. The semi-final might seem far away now but we will try to be there. We have the quality, we have the players who can change this,” Barca coach Hansi Flick said.
It was substitute Alexander Sørloth this time, the Norwegian forward expertly converting Matteo Ruggeri’s low cross from the left.
Alvarez shines for Atletico
Julián Alvarez has scored three direct free-kicks in the Champions League, having previously converted for Atletico against Sparta Praha in November 2024 and for Manchester City against Crvena Zvezda in September 2023.
Alvarez’s nine goals are the most an Atletico player has ever managed in a single Champions League campaign (excludes qualifying). The Argentinean forward has scored 15 goals in his last 18 appearances in the competition.
Atletico had won one of their last seven away matches in UEFA competition before Wednesday night, while Barcelona have lost just two of their last 18 UEFA home matches.
Desire does the trick for Paris
Paris dominated but lost 1-0 to Liverpool at the Parc des Princes in last season’s round of 16, although they ultimately progressed on penalties, and any chance of a repeat of that scoreline was extinguished within 11 minutes when Désiré Doué opened the scoring with a shot from just inside the box that looped off Ryan Gravenberch’s heel and over Giorgi Mamardashvili.
“We produced a performance that lived up to the one provided by our supporters. It was an incredible atmosphere, an incredible performance. We deserved more goals. We’re a bit disappointed not to have scored more, but this is the UEFA Champions League,” Luis Enrique, Paris head coach, said.
The Reds’ victory in the fixture in 2024-25 owed much to an inspired performance by goalkeeper Alisson and Mamardashvili was in equally impressive form during the rest of the first half, tipping a fierce deflected Khvicha Kvaratskhelia strike away at full stretch and using his legs to repel Doué’s close-range finish, set up by Ousmane Dembélé’s clever pass.
Florian Wirtz’s delightful chip set up Jeremie Frimpong, who was adjudged offside, to shoot wide as Liverpool threatened with half-time approaching, but Paris were soon on the attack again, Kvaratskhelia firing into the sidenetting and Dembélé rolling an effort at Mamardashvili when well placed.
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The home fans were anticipating a second when Kvaratskhelia released Nuno Mendes to tee up Dembélé in space inside the box shortly after the restart, the striker showing his dismay after lifting an uncharacteristically wayward finish over the bar.
Kvaratskhelia duly made amends, racing on to João Neves’ deft slide-rule pass before cutting inside, holding off Gravenberch and jinking past Georgia team-mate Mamardashvili to slot in.
Paris pushed for a third, Mamardashvili beating away an Achraf Hakimi drive before Dembélé curled an effort against a post as the holders put in a dominant display to give themselves a cushion to take to Anfield for the second leg in six days.
“If you reflect on the whole game, we were lucky with only losing 2-0, because they had more chances than the goals they scored. The first goal felt hard, because we hadn’t given anything away and then a deflected shot went in. But afterwards they had enough chances to score more. It’s very good that we’re still in the tie and that we can now bring them to Anfield; we all know how much of a difference Anfield can make for us,” Liverpool head coach Arne Slot.
