Hello, and welcome to tonight’s liveblog.
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Here are tonight’s teams…
Atletico team: Oblak, Juanfran, Godin, Lucas, Filipe, Gabi, Koke, Saul, Carrasco, Torres, Griezmann.
Subs: Moya Rumbo, Kranevitter, Fernandez, Correa, Gamez Duarte, Partey, Vietto.
We’re underway…
Messi tries to plays the ball through to Suarez, but it drifts harmlessly out of play.
It’s been a purposeful start from Barca.
Messi gets his first glimpse at goal, but the Argentine superstar drags his shot just wide.
If he scores tonight, it will be Messi’s 500th career goal.
In tonight’s other game, Bayern have taken a very early lead against Benfica.
Arturo Vidal’s header has put the hosts ahead after 2 minutes.
Here’s a look at that Vidal goal…
Torres tries to get away from Alba, but the striker’s shot is deflected harmlessly away from goal.
This game has started as expected, with Barca dominating the ball and Atletico soaking up plenty of pressure.
Decent chance for Messi! Alba floats the ball across goal, but the Argentine international volleys well wide.
Is that a sign of the doubts creeping into Barca’s game following the Real Madrid loss at the weekend perhaps?
Good stat from BT Sport — it’s the 14th time these two sides have met in the last two-and-a-half years.
It’s been a quiet last few minutes — the game has hit a bit of a lull.
Nice touch!
Another chance wasted, as Dani Alves produces an inviting cross that Neymar heads just over the bar.
Is it going to be ‘one of those nights’ for Barca?
BARCELONA 0-1 ATLETICO (TORRES 25)
Torres scores a Champions League goal for the first time since 2014.
Koke plays a defence-splitting task, and the ex-Chelsea striker makes no mistake with the finish, as he registers his seventh goal of the season.
Here’s a look at that excellent Torres finish…
Torres has just been booked for a cynical challenge on Neymar.
Atletico are doing all they can to slow the game down and frustrate Barca at the moment.
Griezmann forces a good save from Ter Stegen, after the Barca defence again allowed him plenty of space to shoot.
The Catalan side haven’t looked sound at all at the back so far.
RED CARD FOR FERNANDO TORRES!
Koke has just been booked for cynically taking down Messi and preventing Barca from counter-attacking.
Diego Simeone’s side are deliberately using fouling as a tactic right now.
Diego Simeone is not happy, as Fernando Torres gets a second yellow card.
Judging by replays, it’s just a clumsy challenge that certainly warrants a booking.
Silly from former Chelsea striker, whose side now have to play over half the game with 10 men.
Here’s a look at that challenge that resulted in Torres getting sent off.
It was stupid, considering he was already on a yellow, but perhaps a little harsh at the same time?
Messi plays a lofted pass to Neymar, whose subsequent header deflects off Suarez and goes wide.
The Uruguayan striker has been surprisingly anonymous in this first half.
Torres’ red card has not made too much difference so far.
Instead of trying to break down an 11-man wall, Barca now have to get past a 10-man wall.
HALF-TIME: BARCELONA 0-1 ATLETICO MADRID
Silence greets the half-time whistle at the Nou Camp. Barcelona have been largely frustrated by an extremely well-organised Atletico outfit.
Messi, Suarez and Neymar have all been noticeably ineffectual in attack for the Catalan side, with the much-hyped trio wasting the odd chance and all having quiet games, while the visitors managed to score through Torres’ opportunistic strike following a rare Atletico counter-attack.
And even after the ex-Chelsea striker’s silly sending off for a second booking, the hosts have seldom looked like scoring, with Atletico persistently slowing the game down with cynical fouls and generally frustrating their opponents.
Barca will surely need to change things around at the break, as they looked short of ideas and confidence for much of that first half.
The second half is underway…
Half chance for Atletico.
Gabi wriggles away from his marker and crosses, but Filipe Luis’ header is blocked by Mascherano.
Great play from the Messi.
The Barca star chests Neymar’s cross, before producing an overhead kick that goes narrowly wide.
Neymar’s curling effort comes off the cross bar.
Moments later, the Brazilian goes down under a challenge in the box, but the referee waves play on.
Shortly thereafter, Filipe Luis makes a last-ditch challenge to stop another Barca attack.
The hosts are really amping up the pressure on their opponents’ goal now.
Atletico make a substitution, with Augusto Fernandez replacing Carrasco.
That change should make the visitors even more defence-oriented.
Another half chance, but Neymar’s header is straight at Oblak.
Surely all this pressure has to tell at some point.
Messi’s shot is parried, and Juanfran makes a vital challenge to deny Neymar on the follow-up.
Barcelona have looked much better in this second half.
Pique is venturing forward quite often now, and almost got on the end of a deep cross into the box there.
The Spanish defender has played as a stand-in striker in the past, and may well do so again tonight.
Barcelona have completed 389 passes and counting in comparison to Atletico’s 124.
That stat gives a good reflection of Barcelona’s superiority in possession if not necessarily in other aspects of the game.
Filipe Luis gets booked for dragging back Luis Suarez.
Shortly thereafter, Neymar curls a strike narrowly wide.
BARCELONA 1-1 ATLETICO (SUAREZ 63)
He’s done almost nothing all night, but Luis Suarez comes alive when he’s most needed.
Alba volleys Alves’ pinpoint cross across the box and Suarez is on hand to tap home from close range.
Barca have been much improved since half-time and very much deserved that equaliser.
Rafinha replaces Rakitic as Barca look to build on that goal.
It’s hard to see a tired-looking Atletico doing much more than hanging on at this stage.
By the way, Rafinha’s brother, Thiago Alcântara, is also playing for Bayern tonight.
Meanwhile, their father, Mazinho, won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994.
BARCELONA 2-1 ATLETICO (SUAREZ 75)
Lovely interplay between Messi and Dani Alves, before Suarez heads home the latter’s cross.
He had been ominously quiet in the first half, but Suarez has certainly left his mark on the game now.
Fernandez has just been booked after completely taking out Neymar. There’s a nastiness and cynicism that’s been consistently evident in Atletico’s game tonight.
As I type, Sergi Roberto replaces Busquets for the final 10 minutes.
Turan has come on for Iniesta as Barca make their third change.
Meanwhile, Gabi is down receiving treatment after the ball hit him in an unfortunate area.
Claims for a penalty as Messi bursts into the box before going down.
Replays suggest the referee made the right call, as the Argentine star was clearly looking for the penalty.
2-1 wouldn’t be a disastrous outcome for Atletico, as this stat suggests…
Here’s a look at that second Barca/Suarez goal…
There will be five minutes of stoppage time…
Barcelona are strongly pushing for a third goal that would surely settle the tie.
Nearly all of Atletico’s players are currently camped in their box.
FULL-TIME: BARCELONA 2-1 ATLETICO MADRID
Right, that’s all from me.
Thanks for reading and commenting, and stay tuned for more reaction.
So that’s that.
A much-improved second-half performance saw a Luis Suarez-inspired Barca claim a deserved victory.
However, Atletico won’t be too disappointed considering how the game panned out, with the visitors playing over half the game with 10 men.
With 2-1 a notoriously precarious lead, this game remains finely balanced, with the second leg in Madrid still to play
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