Alexander Sørloth is the player Barcelona fans fear the most at Atletico Madrid. Before Tuesday’s game, the Norwegian international striker had punished Barcelona with 7 goals in his 14 games against the giant. The last came in the first CL quarter-final in the 0-2 win for Atletico. On Wednesday it was time for the second leg, again the Barca supporters got to experience Norway’s super striker.
Things always get tough when rivals Atletico and Barcelona meet. Lamine Yamal made a shock start with Barca scoring after just under four minutes, Ferran Torres added 0-2 before twenty-five minutes had passed.
READ: Arsenal push Liverpool aside in race for ‘sensational’ £55m star
Atletico got up with a 1-2 score before halftime and were back in the lead. The Barcelona players needed another goal to avoid disappearing from the Champions League, and it was literally boiling on the pitch. Sørltoh was as expected kept back on the bench, a recipe Simeone has had great success with in previous games against Barcelona. Then the Norwegian Viking was “let loose”. With a quarter of an hour left, it didn’t take many seconds on the field before Sørloth turned the game around.
Sørloth tore free, was alone on his way to goal and gushed from the Barcelona defense. A Barca player hit Sørloth in the heel, which was enough for the Atletico striker to lose his balance and go to the grass. The referee pulled up the yellow card, but after a VAR check, the decision was changed to a direct red on Eric Garcia, Sørltoh had had a clear goal chance.
Barcelona had to play with 10 men in the last 11+ minutes of the match. This ensured that Atletico could defend to a 1-2 draw and secure a Champions League semi-final ticket.
Sørloth was behind the 0-2 score at Camp Nou, Sørloth’s goal chance and a red card to Garcia gave Atletico exactly what they needed in terms of advantage to win the battle.
Read on F7: Manchester United ready for talks with the “genius” after Michael Carrick’s loss to Leeds
After this, Barcelona fans will be dreading the next time they face King Alexander Sorloth.
