Ademola Lookman has praised Atletico Madrid’s performance after their impressive 2-0 win at 10-man Barcelona in their Champions League quarter-final first leg clash on Wednesday.
Diego Simeone’s side bounced back from last weekend’s 2-1 defeat in the La Liga to hold a massive advantage heading into the second leg encounter next week at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.
Barcelona were on top for the early stages of the game and even went ahead through Marcus Rashford, although the strike was correctly ruled out for offside against Lamine Yamal in the buildup.
The home side were reduced to 10 in the closing stages of the half as Pau Cubarsi, originally shown a yellow card for a foul on Giuliano Simeone, was sent off after a VAR Review.
Julian Alvarez dispatched the resulting free kick to give Atletico a 1-0 lead into the break, before Alexander Sorloth added gloss on the victory with a second goal in the 70th minute.
Lookman lauds Atletico Madrid’s team display against Barcelona
Ademola Lookman, who started the game before coming off in the 60th minute for Sorloth, has expressed satisfaction with the overall performance of the team as they sealed a massive first leg advantage.
“It was a good result, the performance of the team, especially not to concede here. It shows the work everyone’s been doing and the togetherness”, Lookman said.
“You know especially scoring after they had a man sent off, that was key as well. Brilliant free-kick from Julián (Alvarez) and also the timing of Alex’s (Alexander Sørloth) goal in the second half was also good.”
However, the Nigerian forward believes the tie is far from over, but is confident his side will progress to the next round.
“They are a top team of course, in situations they put you in. Difficult moments but we dug in together”, Lookman added.
“It’s going to be a massive challenge, massive game. we know that. Calm heads, for sure. We’ll take each game as it comes”, he concluded.
Atletico Madrid and Barcelona will face-off once again next Tuesday in their quarterfinal second leg clash in Madrid.
