Barça - Atlético de Madrid: how brave they are with some

BarcelonaBarça's defeat in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against Atlético de Madrid (0-2). Here are some immediate thoughts.

Everything is possible. Flick is right when he praises the effort of his players with ten men for the entire second half in search of a goal they earned. He is also right when he complains about what would have been the silliest penalty in history for a handball by Pubill with the ball in play when the Catalan center-back thought it wasn't. Likewise, he has arguments to believe that Cubarsí's expulsion was harsh. But now we must reset the counter and try to lift the players' spirits before Tuesday's return leg, where there will surely be chances for a comeback. Lamine Yamal is on an upward trend, Simeone tends to be conservative, and this Barça is designed for nights like the one at the Metropolitano. We must believe in it.

A referee of terrible memory. The match was marked –and the entire tie will be marked because he will not play the return leg– by the direct red card to Cubarsí before halftime for a foul on Simeone junior as the last defender. Kovács's first decision was to book the Estanyol player, but the VAR recommended an expulsion for a promising move. How easy. It did not matter that the attacker did not have the ball under control heading towards goal. Red and off he goes. How brave. To make matters worse, Julián scored a screamer from the spot of the infringement. Kovács, incidentally, was the one who sent off Araujo two years ago in that disastrous tie against PSG which ended Xavi's credit. Fortunately, both the team and the environment have matured.

Planning. On the fly, once Cubarsí's red card was confirmed, Flick sent Araujo to warm up to restructure the defense, but at halftime he reconsidered and filled the midfield with Fermín and Gavi to push Eric García back. He also rested Pedri with the return leg in mind, a move that added intensity while reducing control. Atlético de Madrid not only withstood the azulgrana's emergency plan, but also extended their lead to go into the return leg with more room for error. While the tie is still alive because this Barça is capable of anything, the first defeat at the new Camp Nou hurts and confirms once again that to win the Champions League, you have to reach spring with fewer injured players and more squad depth.

Whoever comes, will have to be very good. The first defeat at the new Camp Nou is also Gerard Martín's first since Flick trusted him as a center-back. After 19 starts, the Barcelonian experienced defeat with a specialty that wasn't his, but which he demonstrates he masters better, at least when applied to Barça, than Araujo and Christensen, two internationals who earn considerably more than him. Gerard Martín cannot be held responsible for the 0-2, and it is precisely at this low point that the enormous merit of seeing him perform so well in a risky position must be highlighted. He is tenacious in marking, strong in aerial duels, physically reliable, and, furthermore, has improved immensely in ball distribution. If Bastoni arrives in the summer, he will have to prove a lot.