- Safiu Kehinde
Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman, has again proven been instrumental for Atletico Madrid as his 31st-minute goal on Tuesday night secured the team’s 3-2 aggregate victory over Barcelona, sending Diego Simeone’s side into the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2016/2017 season.
Simeone’s men had last week held a 2-0 first-leg lead at the Spotify Camp Nou stadium.
Barcelona would erase the advantage within 25 minutes at the Wanda Metropolis through Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres goals.
This was however short-lived as a brilliant counter-attack restored Atletico’s lead,
Having stopped an offensive threat by Barcelona, a through pass had sent Marcos Llorente charging towards a loose Barcelona backline.
Llorente squared the ball into visitor’s box where Lookman calmly slotted it past Barcelona’s goalkeeper, Juan Garcia, restoring Atletico’s lead on aggregate.
Barcelona showed little attacking threat in the second half, even after introducing Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski.
Hopes of a comeback ended late when Eric Garcia was sent off for fouling Alexander Sorloth as the last defender.
Atletico will now face either Arsenal or Sporting in the semi-finals, with first-leg matches scheduled for April 28 or 29.