Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in a tense match at the Camp Nou to take a much-needed lead in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. Suarez and Torres were the goalscorers on the night. Torres in particular had a very eventful night as he was sent off just 10 minutes after his goal had given Atletico Madrid the lead.
Here is how various players and the two managers reacted after yesterday’s big Champions League match:
Filipe Luis was incensed with the fact that Suarez did not get a red card for his kick on Juanfran. The Uruguayan kicked out at defender Juanfran in the first half in an off-the-ball incident and, after equalising just past the hour mark, got a yellow card for striking Filipe Luis in the face moments before heading the winner in the 74th minute.
An unhappy Filipe Luis said he thought Uruguay international Suarez was lucky to stay on the pitch. “It was an aggression, a red card,” he told Spanish radio station Cadena Cope.
Filipe Luis also criticised German referee Felix Brych’s decision to dismiss Fernando Torres.
“The sending off is totally unjust and changed the game. Barcelona are protected. When you play against them you realise that they are a very powerful club," he said.
"You realise the fear when Barcelona could get knocked out. It would hurt UEFA a lot. I don't know what they have to do for someone to send one of them off."
Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone did not say what was on his mind because he felt that he would face some action from the authorities.
"I'm not angry with Torres, for sure. It's for you to find out [if it was fair]," he told a media conference.
"It was similar to Arda Turan at the Santiago Bernabeu last year. The referees are there to decide.
"I'm not saying everything I want to say, that's for sure. I'm trying to think about what to say about the game and the refereeing."
"It was more than two incidents, but I can't say what I think."
He also said he was very happy with his team’s performance and he urged the Atletico Madrid fans to cheer them on in the second leg.
"I feel very happy to be the coach of Atletico, hopefully these boys want to continue in this team," he added.
"I'm happy for the team I have. It's a very difficult pitch and an extraordinary opponent. We'll look to turn it around at the Calderon and the fans will explode in song, I'm sure."
Fan favourite Fernando Torres took to Twitter to take full responsibility for Atletico Madrid’s loss
Torres also said that it was one of the worst days of his life.
He said in the mixed zone after the game: "It was a complicated day. If not the worst day, probably among the worst in my career."
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique praised his players for responding in a positive way to going behind. Speaking to Barcelona’s official website, the Spaniard said:
“It’s a shame we couldn’t score one more goal.”
“We have room for improvement and the match at the Calderón will be a nice one.
“We have to win at the Calderón. If there’s any team that can do it, it’s us.”
“I saw the players with passion, but they also used their heads and were under control."
Goalkeeper Ter Stegen clarified about his future after the match;
"We'll see at the end of the season what my situation is and then we'll talk. Deal with Man City? No."
Luis Suarez was phenomenal as always last night and the striker expected a tough game in the second leg:
"We knew beforehand it would be tough. Happy we could turn it around. Think it will be a similar game next week."
Finally, Piers Morgan had a go at Arsene Wenger for not getting Luis Suarez by posting this very simple tweet.
