Barcelona striker Luis Suárez. (Photo : Getty Images)
Powerhouse La Liga squads Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona meet again on April 13th, Wednesday, this time at the Vicente Calderón Stadium in Madrid, for their second leg match in the quarterfinals of the 2015-2016 UEFA Champions League tournament.
Barcelona pulled off a 2-1 come-from-behind win at the Camp Nou on April 5th during the teams' first leg encounter to give Atleti the pressure going into their second meeting, as reported by the Mirror.
Los Colchoneros striker Fernando Torres, on loan from Serie A club AC Milan, silenced the Camp Nou crowd by scoring the opening goal of the game at the 25th minute.
However, it was Torres again who gave his side an unfortunate break 10 minutes later when he was booked for a second yellow card following an unnecessary challenge on Barça midfielder Sergio Busquets and was then sent off to hinder the visitors down to a 10-man lineup.
Head coach Diego Simeone's squad, La Liga's best defensive team this season, held on with their defense for as long as they can even with a man-down on the pitch, but it was only a matter of time before the Blaugrana was able to penetrate their defense and pour out the goals.
It came via a Luis Suárez double at the 63rd and 74th minutes as the other two-thirds of Luis Enrique's three-pronged attack, Lionel Messi and Neymar, continues to struggle with their shot accuracy.
Suárez first found the net via a backheel shot off a Jordi Alba assist piercing through a crowded Atleti defense with only a few feet away from the goal. Then the Uruguayan pulled off a beautiful header for his second goal of the match following a masterful give-and-go play with Dani Alves initiated by Messi's penetration towards the box.
Suárez's brace completed Barça's comeback bid and avoided going to the Vicente Calderón with a lot of pressure to score goals.
Daily Mail Online noted, though, that Atleti still has a chance in this quarterfinal encounter because of the away goal netted by Torres. It was just unfortunate that the Spaniard will have to sit out this second leg in their home field.
The predicted result is another 2-1 decision for Barcelona.
Atletico Madrid starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): Oblak; Juanfran, Gomez, Godin, Luis; Niguez, Fernandez, Koke; Griezmann, Correa, Carrasco
Barcelona starting lineup (4-3-3 formation): ter Stegen; Alves, Pique, Mascherano, Alba; Rakitic, Busquets, Iniesta; Messi, Suárez, Neymar
