Donado: "Atleti learned nothing from the Bayern and Stuttgart games"

The verdict on Atlético's second half spares no one: the first 45 minutes belonged to Simeone's side, but Fermín's goal and some ill-judged substitutions, with Sorloth singled out, explain the defeat.

After hearing Rubén Uría lament that the goal in the 44th minute killed Atlético off there and then, Nacho Donado offers a caveat: he is not sure whether the strong first half was down to Atleti's merit or Barça's shortcomings, because in his view Hansi Flick set the game up the wrong way round. Even so, in the last 20 minutes before the break Barcelona were already starting to look like themselves, with Pedri growing into the game on the back of his runs with the ball.

The goal, he explains, came from a ball Pubil tried to cut out, which fell kindly for Fermín, who struck it perfectly. But what he finds inexplicable is the second half: as if the team had learned nothing from what happened against Bayern and Stuttgart.

And then there were the substitutions. He spares Johnny and is somewhat more lenient on Lookman, but he is scathing about Jonathan David and, above all, Alexander Sorloth, to the point of questioning whether he should ever be sent on again, because his display today, he concludes, was a disgrace.