00:00It has not been a happy hunting ground for Atleti and their manager, Diego Simeone.
00:04But they picked the perfect time to put things right.
00:31As far as Atletico Madrid are concerned, Camp Nou is a classic example of what you would call a bogey
00:37ground.
00:39For 20 years, Camp Nou has been the scene of many miserable outings for Atleti.
00:44Going 25 games without a win at the venue, losing 17 and drawing 8.
00:53To find their last victory there, you had to go all the way back to February 2006.
00:59Fernando Torres scored twice in a 3-1 win for the visitors.
01:05So going into their Champions League clash, history was against Atleti and Diego Simeone,
01:10who had never won at Camp Nou as a coach in 18 previous attempts.
01:16But at the 19th time of asking, Simeone finally broke his Camp Nou curse,
01:21as Atletico beat Barcelona to seize control of their quarterfinal time.
01:29Well, I think there are several coaches who have not won here, and very few that have won here.
01:38I think we were very strong today.
01:41And well, the truth is, I'm very happy with the effort of the players.
01:50After weathering an early storm, Atleti capitalized on their numerical advantage.
01:55Julian Alvarez opened the scoring with a stunning free kick,
01:58moments after Pau Kubasi was shown a red card.
02:02The foul was clear, VAR intervened, and the referee confirmed the red card.
02:07From there, Julian scored an incredible goal.
02:10Julian, incredible.
02:12The win was then sealed when Alexander Sorloff doubled Atleti's lead,
02:17giving them the cushion they needed going into the return bounce.
02:22It could be a good omen for Los Rojiblancos.
02:25On the previous two occasions that they have faced Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals,
02:30they successfully eliminated the Catalans on both occasions.
02:35But Simeone is wary of a Barca response.
02:38They almost completed an unlikely comeback in their Copa del Rey semifinal in early March.
02:46After our 4-0 win, we saw how well they played,
02:50and how well they responded in the second leg.
02:53We expect a difficult and complex match.
03:00With a two-goal lead and home-ground advantage for the second leg,
03:05Atletico Madrid are firm favourites to progress to the Champions League semifinals.
03:10For Atleti and Diego Simeone,
03:13they finally ended their Camp Nou curse,
03:16beating Barcelona on their own turf
03:18to seize control of their quarterfinal tie.
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