FC Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid, UEFA Champions League 2026, Quarter-final, 1st leg Highlights: Alvarez, and Sorloth give Atletico 2-0 advantage against 10-men Barcelona

Thank you for staying with us on this live blog. I hope you enjoyed the match. 

Good night. See you in the second leg.

Even without a goal or assist, Lamine Yamal was the highest rated player on the pitch!

Generational talent!

— Koushik Biswas (@kbofficial25) April 8, 2026

Atletico Madrid was brilliant, when they were given chances to open up. 

Barcelona did not take their chances as Rashford and Cancelo missed early chances. 

But, the 44th minute red card to Pau Cubarsi allwoed Atletico Madrid to strike and Julian Alvarez just did that with a stunning free-kick goal.

In the second half, Barcelona fought hard with 10 men but could not find the finishing touch. Sorloth came from the bench to srtike in the 70th minute as Lamine Yamal's lone fitght went in vain for the home side. 

Atletico Madrid would be delighted to head on to second leg with a 2-0 lead. But, we all know, plenty of football to be played with the attacking style of Barcelona. But they will surely have to defend well to stay in the game.

Alteti take a two-goal lead to Madrid 🔴⚪#UCL pic.twitter.com/foILzfXTUc

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 8, 2026

Dani Olmo misses the final attempt as the referee gets ready to blow the final whistle.

Alvarez fouls Olmo and it might be the final chance for Barcelona to pull one back.

3 minutes added to the full time.

It is Lamine again who started the attack but had to look for Blade, whose cross was not met by Ferran inside the box.

Looks like Yamal is fighting a lone battle as Ateltico Madrid defend with 10 men in the back.

In: Balde

Out: Cancelo

After dribbiling through nearly five defenders, Lamine Yamal could not control his final touch to make something happen for Barcelona.

Very unlikely of them but may be under pressure or in tiredness, Barcelona are making lots of mistakes.

In: Gonzalez, Almada

Out: Griezmann, Simeone

Back-to-back corners for Barcelona as Cancelo's shot was deflected away by Musso and then Lamine won another corner.

In: Ferran, Araujo

Out: Rashford, Kounde

Sorloth loves playing against Barcelona and he scores yet again.

Out of nowhere Ruggeri sends the cross from the left and Sorloth just waited there to side foot it for the second goal of the night for Atletico Madrid. 

⚽️ ALVAREZ CONVERTS THE FREE KICK! WHAT AN END TO THE HALF! GOAL! pic.twitter.com/2gojPtH623

— Low Res Replays (@LowResReplays) April 8, 2026

Yellow card for Gavi for a foul on Griezmann.

Yellow card for Baena for a foul on Olmo.

Rashford again had the chance to run away with the ball but it was Normand, who came running from behind and made the challenge to disturb his rhythym.

In: Sorloth, Baena

Out: Koke, Lookman

Ohh, how close was that? 

From the corner, Gavi just  tickled the ball on its way and Olmo was just inches away from tapping the ball into the goal

Alvarez free-kick specialist 😮‍💨#UCL pic.twitter.com/9xlNpXa2V3

— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 8, 2026

From the corner Kounde had the chance to the head the ball inside the goal from the center of the goal.

However, Atleitco Madrid were able to nullify that.

Rashford went for power and Musso deflected that for a corner.

Le Normad fouls Lamine Yamal at the edge of the box and Barcelona get a free-kick from a dangerous position.

Another perfect ball from Lamine Yamal. Rashford was nearly one-on-one against Musso. But, after a heavy first touch, he lost the control and then hit the site net.

In: Gavi, Fermin

Out: Pedri, Lewandowski

We are minute away from starting the second half.

Barcelona dominated the most the first-half but it is Atletico Madrid who will be the happier among the both teams to head into the tunnel.

Cubarsi was sent off and Julian Alvarez hit the back of the net with a sutnning free-kick to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at the break.

We will see you after the break.

Cancelo with the pass and Lewandowski with a quick turn and shot, hit the ball direct to Musso, who did not make any mistake

Pubill gets the yellow card for a foul on Lewandowski.

The Spidey does it.

Sixth goals against Barcelona for Julian Alvarez. He scores with the free-kick. He foes over the wall and get the curl enough to hit the back of the post.

Atletico Madrid take the lead.

The referee turns down his original yellow card and changes it to a direct red card after the VAR check. 

Barcelona down to 10 men now.

VAR check is going on for a potential red card.

It looked like an one-on-one situation. Cubarsi fouled Simeone from behind. Did he trail his left leg?

He gets the yellow card. 

Koke, who is already on yellow, fouls Lamine Yamal from behind. The referee warns him again.

Both the wingers have been doing an excellent job - making quick entries into the box and then launching shots. However, all of their shots have been blocked so far.

The youngster goes past three defenders inside the box. However, his attempt was blocked by Pubill.

Unfortunate that Hancko will not be able to continue. He is replaced by Pubill.

Koke gets the yellow card for a foul on Olmo.

It was very tough for him to get a feet on that cross from Lewandowski. But he forced Musso to make the save.

Hancko has not reutnred to the pitch yet and they are playing with 10 men now.

The Atleti defender is down with pain. Looks like it is his ankle. He is getting the attentions from the medical team.

After an end to end start, both teams are now playing the build up game and waiting for the mistake from other team.

Nearly for the home side. 

Pedri with a great thourgh ball for Lamine Yamal, who found Rashford with a cross ball. Rashford, who nerly missed the chance, tapped the ball inside the goal. 

However, Yamal was just offside when he recieved the ball from Pedri.

Rashford has given Molina a tough time. 

The winger recieved the long ball on the left and kept going with the ball, after beating Molina with the pace. However, he could not make use of that as he lost the ball on the byline.

Although he did not connect it prooperly, Rashford's volley nearly went inside the goal. However, Garcia was offside leading to the play.

Simeone with a cross from the right looked for the senior pro Griezmann, who is playing his last match at the Camp Nou. However, the ball looked a bit long for the French star.

Not a yellow but surely the Atletico Madrid captain got a warning from the referee after a foul on Dani Olmo.

The visitors earn the first corner of the night as Lookman's shot was deflected away by Kounde.

Sloppy defending from Barcelona and Julian Alvarez took the advantage. The Argentine striker made a quick entry int he final third. However, his attempt went straight to Juan Garica, who made an easy save.

Quick and good start from the English winger. His right footed shot from the edge of the box went straight to Musso. Easy save for the Atletico goalkeeper.

Atletico Madrid start the proceedings at Camp Nou.

We are nearly there. The kick-off will take place in a minute.

Barcelona have scored in 29 of the their last 30 UEFA Champions League matches. So, you can expect goals tonight as well.

Julian Alvarez has scored 14 goals in his last 17 UEFA Champions League appearances

Our guardian pic.twitter.com/9rBv6QlG3J

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 8, 2026

Let's do this together, @AitanaBonmati 👊 https://t.co/8o14gHBuO7

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 8, 2026

Atletico Madrid head coach Diogo Simeone made as many as five changes as he brought in Hancko, Ruggeri, Llorente, Lookman and Julián Álvarez all return to the starting line up.

Hansi Flick made two changes to their line-up which faced Atletico Madrid last weekend. Jules Kounde returned to the starting eleven after returning from injury while Robert Lewandowski also returned to the starting XI. 

XI: Musso, Molina, Le Normand, Hancko, Ruggeri, Simeone, Llorente, Koke, Lookman, Griezmann, Álvarez

Subs: Esquivel, de Luis, Mendoza, Sorloth, Baena, Almada, Lenglet, Pubill, Vargas, Gonzalez, Diaz.

XI: Joan Garcia; Kounde, Cubarsí, Gerard Martin, Cancelo; Eric, Pedri, Olmo; Lamine, Lewandowski, Rashford.

Subs: Balde, Araujo, Gavi, Ferran, Fermín, Casadó, Szczęsny, Roony, Kochen, Cortés, Xavi Espart, Tommy

FC Barcelona have won four of their last five encounters, with one game ending in a draw against Newcastle United.

Meantime, Atletico Madrid have lost three of their last five games and are on a three-match losing streak at the moment. 

You do not have to go very far to fetch the result of the latest match between FC Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. They met each other last weekend in La Liga, where Robert Lewandowski's late goal held Barcelona in joy with a 2-1 win. 

Football fans in India can watch the match live on Sony TEN 2. They can also stream the match online on the Sony LIV app and website. Those who do not have the subscription can follow our live blog to get all the updates of the match. 

Across all the competitions, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have faced each other 250 times so far. Barcelona emerged victorious 115 times, while Atletico Madrid won in 78 games. 57 matches ended in a draw.

However, in the Champions League at Atletico Madrid has won both quarterfinal rounds against Barcelona in 2014 and 2016