Diego Simeone

Diego Simeone's team held on after an early charge by Barcelona to make it back to the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time in nearly a decade

After sealing their spot in the Champions League semifinals, Diego Simeone's side took a swipe at the culés with a viral meme. Leer

Diego Simeone said watching his Atlético Madrid team compete still makes him "emotional" after eliminating Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate to reach the Champions League semifinals for the first time since 2017.

Hansi Flick was full of pride for Barcelona’s display in their Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid, as he turned his focus to winning LaLiga. Barca were beaten 3-2 on aggregate by Atletico, despite winning Tuesday’s second leg 2-1. Diego Simeone’s side can now look forward to taking on either Sporting CP or Arsenal in […] The post Flick turns full focus to LaLiga after Barcelona slump out of Champions League appeared first on Soccer News.

Johnny Cardoso made his return for Atletico Madrid on Tuesday night, helping Diego Simeone’s men advance to the UEFA Champions League semifinals. Cardoso made a late cameo as Atletico edged La Liga rivals Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate in quarterfinal second leg action. Despite losing the second leg 2-1 at home, Atletico punched its ticket to ... Read more

Atletico Madrid booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals after edging past Barcelona 3-2 on aggregate, surviving a spirited comeback attempt in a dramatic quarter-final second leg. Diego Simeone’s side progressed despite suffering a 2-1 defeat on the night, with their first-leg advantage ultimately proving decisive in a fiercely contested tie. Barcelona, trailing 2-0 […]

Defeat never tasted so good. At the end of a battle in which both teams had fought and both had bled, in which they had suffered, a huge banner was unfurled. “We give everything to win the cup,” it said, and, boy, had they. For the first time, Diego Simeone had seen his team lose a Champions League knockout game at home, but it did not matter: instead there was delirium, the club’s anthem belted out louder than ever before. “You don’t know how lovely it is to be among the four best teams in Europe,” he said.

Despite Barcelona's 2-1 win in the second leg, Ademola Lookman's goal secured Atletico Madrid's ticket to the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League semifinals. Atletico Madrid hosted FC Barcelona on Tuesday in the decisive second leg of their 2025-26 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. Despite the Blaugrana claiming a 2-1 victory on the night, Ademola Lookman‘s goal proved to be the decisive blow, sending the Colchoneros through to the semifinals on aggregate. Needing to overturn a two-goal deficit from the start, Barcelona hit the ground running when Ferran Torres pounced on a mistake from Clément Lenglet and laid the ball into the path of Lamine Yamal, who slotted it through Juan Musso’s legs to open the scoring in the fourth minute. Torres then added a second in the 24th minute, bringing down Dani Olmo’s pass with a deft first touch before finishing to give the Blaugrana a 2-0 lead on the night and level the tie on aggregate. With the game heading for extra time, Barcelona‘s hopes were dashed in the 31st minute when Marcos Llorente delivered a cross from the right and Lookman met it first time, restoring Atletico’s aggregate advantage with a sharp finish. The Blaugrana were unable to find another breakthrough in the second half, and their cause was dealt a further blow when Eric Garcia was shown a red card in the 79th minute, leaving Barcelona to exit the competition 3-2 on aggregate. It marks Atletico’s first Champions League semifinal appearance since the 2016-17 season, when they faced Real Madrid at that stage. Diego Simeone’s side will now await the winner of the tie between Arsenal and Sporting CP, with the Gunners holding a 1-0 lead heading into the second leg of their quarterfinal.

KIERAN GILL: Here we were thinking Diego Simeone might have his Atletico Madrid side pull the shutters down in front of their goal, as if closed for business.

Diego Simeone's side win through 3-2 on aggregate in classic tie

Barcelona midfielder Fermin Lopez was left bloodied after he copped a boot to the face. A delightful cross from Lamine Yamal found the unmarked Lopez in acres of space inside Atletico Madrid’…

Both Diego Simeone and Hansi Flick were facing selection dilemmas for quarter-final second-leg decider

Barcelona will be looking for an specific result to get through to the UEFA Champions League semifinals against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday. Barcelona travel to the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in search of a comeback against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their 2025-26 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie. With the Colchoneros holding a 2-0 advantage from the first leg, the Blaugrana must produce a specific result to pull off one of the more memorable reversals in the club’s recent history. The stunning 2-0 defeat at Camp Nou sent shockwaves through the Barcelona fanbase, and the Blaugrana will be without Pau Cubarsi for the second leg after his red card in the 45th minute of the first leg. Atletico have also taken steps to gain any available edge at their own ground, with the state of the Metropolitano pitch already drawing a complaint from Barca coach Hansi Flick ahead of the match. Barcelona head into the game on the back of a morale-boosting 4-1 win over Espanyol in the Catalan derby, while Atletico come in off a 2-1 defeat to relegation-threatened Sevilla, a result that carried little concern given Diego Simeone rested most of his first-choice starters ahead of Tuesday’s European clash. How a Barcelona win affects the UEFA Champions League bracket A victory for Barcelona on Tuesday would not automatically guarantee their passage to the next round. With Atletico holding a two-goal cushion from the first leg, a narrow one-goal win for the Blaugrana would still see the Colchoneros advance on aggregate. Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona is challenged by Koke of Atletico de Madrid. For Barcelona to advance directly, they would need to win by a margin of three or more goals to overcome the deficit in regulation. If they do manage to complete the comeback, the Blaugrana would face the winner of the other quarterfinal between Sporting CP and Arsenal in the semifinals, with the Gunners currently holding a 1-0 advantage heading into their second leg. How a Barcelona draw affects the UEFA Champions League bracket A draw in Tuesday’s match would see Barcelona eliminated from the 2025-26 Champions League, as the two-goal deficit from the first leg would prove insurmountable under a straightforward aggregate calculation. However, if Barcelona were erase the two-goal deficit and draw in the average scoreline, the situation changes entirely. A 2-0 scoreline in favor of Barcelona, for example, would level the aggregate and send the tie to extra time, with a penalty shootout to follow if the teams remained deadlocked. How a Barcelona loss affects the UEFA Champions League bracket If Barcelona were to lose on Tuesday, they would be eliminated from the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League, falling short of the semifinals once again. Their last appearance at that stage came in the 2018-19 season against Liverpool, while a victory for Atletico would see the Colchoneros reach the Champions League semifinals for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign.

Barça will look to overturn a 0-2 deficit from the first leg at Camp Nou this Tuesday, April 14, at the Metropolitano. Leer

The best sports betting site 1xBet has prepared a preview of the decisive matches for places in the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition. Follow this link, pick your favorites and place bets responsibly - based on analysis, not intuition.Liverpool vs Paris Saint-Germain, April 14The reigning champions quickly took the initiative in the first leg against Liverpool and opened the scoring early on thanks to a goal from Desire Doue. After half-time, the Parisians kept on dominating and doubled their lead with an accurate strike from Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.The Merseysiders looked helpless at the Parc des Princes: they had almost no possession, rarely managed to launch any serious attacks, and took only three shots, none of which was on target.The return leg in England is unlikely to resemble the first game. Liverpool almost always perform with far greater confidence in front of their home crowd, and an early goal could turn the tide. At the same time, Luis Enrique’s side find themselves in the best possible position: the Parisians hold a 2-goal lead and don’t need to take risks.Liverpool vs PSG: W1 - 2.29, X - 4.44, W2 - 2.55To advance to the semi-finals: Liverpool...

By Martin Graham Julian Alvarez’s journey began in Calchin, a small town in Argentina’s Cordoba province, where his talent quickly set him apart. Nicknamed “La Aranita” by his brother because of his elusive movement on the pitch, he became a local attraction, with opponents eager to see him play. Even at a young age, […]

Ahead of the Champions League clash against Atletico Madrid, Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick complained to a UEFA delegate over the pitch conditions at the Metopolitano. Barcelona have arrived in Madrid for the second leg of their 2025-26 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie against Atletico, looking to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg. But head coach Hansi Flick has already encountered his first obstacle, lodging a complaint with a UEFA official over the condition of the playing surface at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano. On Monday, Barcelona held their pre-match press conference, with Lamine Yamal among the most prominent voices, even directing a message toward Atletico coach Diego Simeone, before Flick addressed the media. The squad also conducted their final training session ahead of Tuesday’s clash at the Metropolitano, and their first contact with the pitch left something to be desired. In footage captured by accredited media, Flick was visibly unhappy the moment he stepped onto the field. The Barcelona manager crouched down on multiple occasions to examine the grass up close, his body language leaving little doubt about his dissatisfaction with what he found. After determining that the grass was too long and excessively dry, Flick wasted no time seeking out UEFA delegate Christian Kofoed of Denmark, who was stationed on the touchline. The German coach proceeded to make his concerns known directly to the representative in no uncertain terms. Hansi Flick se queja del césped del Metropolitano a la UEFA. (Vía @eldesmarque). Al entrenador del Barça no le gusta el estado de la hierba. pic.twitter.com/J3ZiTVY6yW — Albert Ortega (@AlbertOrtegaES1) April 13, 2026 Despite the clear frustration on display, Diario AS reports that Barcelona have not filed a formal complaint, with Flick’s remarks characterized as an observation that UEFA has acknowledged. Atletico Madrid, for their part, have reportedly pushed back against any suggestion that the pitch was in poor condition in the 24 hours leading up to kickoff. Pitch conditions emerge as another obstacle for Barcelona A dry surface creates significantly more friction as the ball rolls across it, causing it to slow down considerably compared to a wet pitch, and that factor cuts directly against Flick’s style of play. In La Liga, Barcelona lead all teams with 586 passes completed per game, and in the Champions League they rank fourth with 507, while also placing among the lower teams in long ball frequency, making the pace and smoothness of the playing surface a genuine competitive concern. The dry conditions at the Metropolitano have already proven costly for Barcelona in this very stadium this season. In the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinal, Atletico exploited an unexpected bounce on the pitch that caused goalkeeper Joan García to mishandle the ball, resulting in an own goal that opened a 4-0 victory for the hosts. It is precisely that kind of moment Flick will be desperate to avoid when the two sides meet again on Tuesday.

Lamine Yamal is looking to LeBron James for some inspiration as he tries to lead Barcelona to a Champions League comeback.

Verdict: Draw Best odds: 13/4 Bookmaker: Olympusbet Facing the daunting task of producing another famous remontada to keep their Champions League hopes alive, Barcelona head to the Spanish capital on Tuesday night for the second leg of their quarter‑final clash with Atlético Madrid. Diego Simeone’s side stunned the Blaugrana 2–0 at Camp Nou in the […] The post Prediction: Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona appeared first on Soccer News.