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Barcelona v Atlético Madrid: Champions League quarter-final, first leg | Champions League

Published

2 hours ago

April 8, 2026

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Key events

31 min: Koke is booked for a clumsy foul on Olmo. Hancko is off injured (sorry for doubting you) and Marc Pubill is on.

30 min: Now Olmo hits a cultured, searching cross from right to left looking for Rashford at the far post. The Manchester United alumni manages to stab it goalwards despite a tight angle, and Musso does well to save, even if the ball nearly squirts under his body.

29 min: Hancko is down injured after that cross by Kounde. He’s gone off the pitch for treatment, behind the goal. There was a stoppage of a couple of minutes, a cynic might suggest it was a good time for a breather for the visiting defence.

27 min: Kounde bends a cross over looking for Lewandowski after receiving an intricate little ball to feet on the edge of the box. Molina does well to flick it clear with his head, with the Poland international lurking.

Pedri of Barcelona has been booked, for what, I am not sure.

25 min: Atléti enjoy a spell of possession, pinging passes around impressively, starving Barcelona of the ball and probing for an opening themselves. Cancelo hauls Simeone to the deck around halfway. Simeone demands a card. Amazingly, he doesn’t change the ref’s mind. There are some robust challenges flying around, it’s physical as well as skilful.

24 min: Atletico were advertised playing 4-4-2, but it looked more like a back five just then. Still no bus-parking mind you.

21 min: Llorente plays a poor pass from a position in central defensive midfield, trying to spray it out left, but overhits it. He wants a free-kick, but the officials aren’t having it.

20 min: The noise from the fans is deafening. They are seeing both teams play some impressively progressive football here, both going for it every time they get the ball. Tim’s pre-match prediction, that the visitors will not park the bus, was quite correct.

17 min: Atléti want a penalty for handball. Nothing doing.

In the next installment of this end-to-end thriller, Pedri slides a fantastic defence-splitting pass for Yamal on the Barça right, who wastes no time in squaring for Rashford, who tucks it into the gaping net! But the flag is up. Yamal was offside from Pedri’s fine pass. No goal.

15 min: Lookman and Griezmann link for Atléti, but Barca snuff out the danger. Needless to say, Barcelona immediately go for the jugular again. Rashford uses his exceptional pace and has Molina on toast down the left wing. He tries to cut back from the byline for Lewandowski, but his attempted low cross is blocked.

14 min: There’s a beautiful tempo to this. High, high quality stuff. Now Eric Garcia builds down the Barcelona right. He floats a cross to Rashford in space at the far post, inside the area but a little way out. The England international hits a businesslike volley that bounces wide of a post. It was close enough to draw a gasp from the crowd with Musso scrambling across his goal.

10 min: No one has had a shot for at least a minute, which is unusual. Here comes Lookman for Atlético, though! He finds Simeone with a fantastic pass out wide after coming up against a well-positioned Barcelona backline. Simeone cracks one powerfully but it’s neither on target nor in reach of a teammate.

9 min: Now Cancelo, looking like a footballing Rolls-Royce as per usual, cuts in and hammers a low shot at Musso from an angle. The goalie makes a tidy save.

8 min: Koke cynically takes out Olmo with Barça ready to break at pace. The ref has a strong word. But no card.

7 min: This is more open than a school-playground lunchtime kickabout at 1.58pm.

Yamal looks for Rashford, in space on the left, but gets it wrong. Then the visitors stream down to the other end and Lookman has a shot blocked. Corner.

5 min: The pace is hot! Hot! Hot! The visitors fashion one chance at the other end after Rashford’s early opening, with Griezmann being crowded out near the six-yard box … then seconds later, Alvarez powers in from the right wing, along the byline, cuts back and hits a shot straight at Garcia. He should have scored! It should be 1-1!

4 min: Huge chance for Rashford! Atlético’s Molina gives it away in a defensive area with a pass inside, a horrible error, and Rashford is suddenly one-on-one. He hits an unconvincing effort at Musso and the keeper is able to save with a foot. That should be 1-0.

2 min: A niggly little foul by Griezmann early doors, on Pedri. The crowd wails before Gerard Martín takes the free-kick.

Flick paces the touchline in a comfy-looking black jumper and Nike trainers.

Rashford has an early go, cutting in from the Barcelona left and hitting a shot straight at Musso.

Marcus Rashford of Barcelona shoots while under pressure from Robin Le Normand of Atletico Madrid. Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images

First-half kick-off!

Vamos!

A moment to honour the memory of Mircea Lucescu.

I hereby designate Dani Olmo, playing in the middle of a forward three behind Lewandowski and with pace either side, in the “schemer” role.

Marcus Rashford appears from the tunnel, and raises both hands to the heavens.

It feels like there’s a special energy to this tie already.

We are literally less than five minutes away from kick-off!

The atmosphere in the stadium looks sensational. FC Barcelona flags are held aloft everywhere. The players are assembled in the tunnel.

Vamos!

The Barca fans’ flag game is strong. Photograph: Nacho Doce/Reuters

Rob Smyth has Paris Saint-Germain v crisis club Liverpool over on Channel 1:

“What he’s done for that club is absolutely astronomical,” Cole says of Griezmann, soon to depart Atletico for Orlando City FC. There’s a decent Nasa link in there somewhere.

Will Antoine Griezmann and teammates achieve liftoff against Barcelona? Photograph: Stocktrek Images/Getty Images

“I don’t think Atlético will do a smash and grab etc.,” opines Tim on email.

“They are an excellent team on the break and will outplay Barca in my opinion for significant stretches.”

Was it really May 2024 when Lookman banged in that hat-trick for Atalanta in the Europa League final v Leverkusen?

You bet it was:

Lookman signed for the Spanish club in February, a piece of transfer news that had hitherto escaped me.

Luis Garcia is on duty in the stadium, evoking those days when it seemed like Chelsea and Liverpool played each other every three minutes.

Atlético and Barça will play thrice in the space of nine days, starting with the match on Saturday, when Lewandowski won it. This is their fifth meeting of the current season, to boot.

“Diego Simeone has never won at Camp Nou,” says Karen Carney, alongside Cole on pundit duty. And there you have it. No time like the present, that’s what I say.

“It’s beauty and the beast,” says Joe Cole on TNT Sports of the contest that awaits. We know what Atlético are going to do tonight, they’ll “bank in”, make it nasty, they’ll be aggressive, and there’ll be all sorts of shenenigans going on.”

Alvarez, leading the line for the visitors, has scored 14 goals in his last 17 Champions League matches. #Prolific

The match shirt of Julian Alvarez. Photograph: Álex Caparrós/UEFA/Getty Images

“A smash and grab would be great,” emails Andres. “But look up Simeone’s record at Barcelona.”

Would you mind doing it? Much appreciated.

I’d also take a sparkling attacking masterclass from Flick’s side as well of course. I’m pretty flexible on the issue.

Barça may be favourites and deservedly so but personally I’d like to see a classic European smash-and-grab by Simeone’s side tonight, with a healthy dose of naughty defending and shithousery in the mix.

Araujo stuck in one hell of a reducer on Phil Foden the other week at Wembley during England 1-1 Uruguay. I saw it with my own eyes and it was the most violent tackle in a top-level game I’ve seen for a good while.

Phil Foden and Ronald Araujo. Photograph: Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

Teams

Lewandowski came off the bench on Saturday to score the winner but starts tonight, with fit-again Jules Kounde the other change. Raphinha is out with a hamstring injury and will miss the second leg, too. Ronald Araujo limped out of the La Liga match on Saturday but is on the bench tonight.

Marcos Llorente is one of five changes to Simeone’s Atlético team from the weekend: David Hancko, Matteo Ruggeri, Ademola Lookman and Julian Alvarez are the others.

Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan Garcia; Kounde, Cubarsi, Gerard, Joao Cancelo; Eric Garcia, Pedri; Yamal, Olmo, Rashford; Lewandowski. Substitutes: Szczesny, Kochen, Balde, Araujo, Gavi, Torres, Lopez, Casado, Bardghji, Cortes, Espart, Marques.

Atlético Madrid (4-4-2): Musso; Molina, Le Normand, Hancko, Ruggeri; Simeone, Llorente, Koke, Lookman; Griezmann, Alvarez. Substitutes: Esquivel, de Luis, Mendoza, Sorloth, Baena, Almada, Lenglet, Pubill, Vargas, Gonzalez, Diaz.

Referee: Istvan Kovacs (Romania)

And how good is the weather, by the way? Answer: very. With another seemingly interminable league phase (and winter) out the way we can now enjoy some decent knockout ties. Sunshine + meaningful Champions League encounters (beyond the recent round of 16): it’s a heady mix.

Team news will be coming up soon, meanwhile, why not send me an email?

Preamble

How good are Barcelona, really? How good is Robert Lewandowski when push comes to shove? And how good are Atlético nearly 15 years into the reign of the sharp-suited Diego Simeone?

There are some recent clues. The seasoned Poland striker Lewandowski had the last word in La Liga on Saturday, his 87th-minute winner added to Marcus Rashford’s opener giving Barça a 2-1 comeback win away from home.

Hansi Flick’s side are closing in on the league title, leading second-placed Real Madrid by seven points, with a 19-point chasm separating Barcelona and tonight’s opponents.

And yet. In February Diego Simeone’s side thrashed Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final. “This will remain in the memory however the tie ends,” Simeone said that night. They progressed, despite losing 3-0 the following week.

History is also on Atlético’s side: these two faced each other in the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 2013/14 and 2015/16, and Simeone’s side prevailed on both occasions, their only previous meetings in the competition.

More recently the last nine encounters have produced 35 goals between them, and there will be an embarrassment of attacking riches on show this evening. “We are ready to compete and we believe we can hurt them,” said Simeone. This could be quite good …

Kick-off: 8pm UK time.

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RSPCA says 250 dogs found crammed into one home

Published

58 minutes ago

April 8, 2026

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The animal charity says it has been forced to refute that an image of the dogs was AI-generated.

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Four stabbed after disorder breaks out at railway station

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4 hours ago

April 8, 2026

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A 16-year-old boy and a 19-year-old-man have been arrested on suspicion of assault with intent.

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Middle East crisis live: Trump says Lebanon is ‘separate skirmish’ to Iran as Israel launches massive strikes on country | Iran

Published

5 hours ago

April 8, 2026

info@oxinfo.co.uk

Lebanon not included in ceasefire deal, says Trump

Lebanon is not part of the two-week ceasefire deal, US president Donald Trump has told the media.

Speaking on the phone with PBS News Hour’s Liz Landers, Trump is reported to have said the Israel-Lebanon conflict is a “separate skirmish”, adding:

Yeah, they [Lebanon] were not included in the deal.

He added:

Because of Hezbollah. They were not included in the deal. That’ll get taken care of too. It’s alright.

Key events

The US embassy in Baghdad warned citizens on Wednesday of further attacks after it said Iran-backed armed groups hit a diplomatic support centre at the airport.

“Iraqi terrorist militia groups aligned with Iran conducted multiple drone attacks in the vicinity of the Baghdad Diplomatic Support Center and Baghdad International Airport on April 8,” the embassy said in a statement on X.

“They may intend to conduct additional terrorist attacks against US citizens and targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq,” it added, advising citizens against travelling in Iraq by plane.

A US official said Wednesday that a 10-point ceasefire plan published by Iran is not the same set of conditions that were agreed to by the White House for pausing the war.

“The document being reported by media outlets is not the working framework,” the senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Erdogan warns of ‘sabotage’ threat to ceasefire

Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned Wednesday of the threat from “possible provocations and sabotage” to the ceasefire accord agreed by Iran and the United States.

In a message on X welcoming the last-minute accord, Erdogan said:

We hope that the ceasefire will be fully implemented on the ground without giving any opportunity for possible provocations and sabotage.

During a telephone conversation with US counterpart Donald Trump, Erdogan urged “a lasting peace agreement” with Iran, according to a statement from the Turkish presidency.

“This two-week window of opportunity, which has opened after 40 days of considerable tension and suffering for the whole world, must be used to reach a lasting peace deal,” Erdogan told Trump, the statement added.

He also called for “this process not to be compromised under any circumstances” and said Turkey would offer its full support to ensure as much.

British prime minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday there was still a lot of work to do to reopen the strait of Hormuz, speaking during a visit to Saudi Arabia.

“We now … have a ceasefire, but there’s a lot of work to do, as you will appreciate, a lot of work to make sure that that ceasefire becomes permanent and brings about the peace that we all want to see,” he told UK and Saudi personnel during the visit.

“But also a lot of work to do in relation to the Strait of Hormuz, which has an impact everywhere across the world.”

Lebanon not included in ceasefire deal, says Trump

Lebanon is not part of the two-week ceasefire deal, US president Donald Trump has told the media.

Speaking on the phone with PBS News Hour’s Liz Landers, Trump is reported to have said the Israel-Lebanon conflict is a “separate skirmish”, adding:

Yeah, they [Lebanon] were not included in the deal.

He added:

Because of Hezbollah. They were not included in the deal. That’ll get taken care of too. It’s alright.

Justin McCurry

Dozens of demonstrations have been held across Japan calling for an immediate end to the war in Iran, with protesters waving light sticks and holding banners lining packed into an area in front of the Diet building in Tokyo on Wednesday evening.

Against a musical backdrop, they chanted antiwar slogans and called on the country’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, to abide by the postwar constitution, which forbids Japan from using force as a means of settling international disputes. Many also demanded her resignation.

Fears that Takaichi, a conservative, could use her party’s huge majority in the lower house of parliament to push for constitutional reform have strengthened since the start of the war.

Last month, she turned down a request by Donald Trump to send Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Forces to the strait of Hormuz, telling him that any military involvement could violate the war-renouncing article 9 of Japan’s postwar constitution.

Trump has since criticised Japan – which is dependent on Middle East oil – and Washington’s other north-east Asian ally South Korea for not joining the conflict.

It was not immediately clear how many people had joined the protest in Tokyo, but organisers said they were hoping to exceed the 24,000 who turned out for a similar demonstration in March.

“It is always ordinary civilians who suffer in wars, so I decided to come here to make my voice heard,” said Setsuko Sasaki, who was attending her first demonstration. “I knew I would regret it if I did nothing.”

Her colleague Haruka Komori said she opposed any Japanese involvement in the US-Israeli war on Iran and voiced skepticism that the ceasefire announced on Wednesday would hold.

“The war has stirred something among Japanese people who oppose war and want to protect the constitution,” she said. “We should never get involved.”

Demonstrators in Tokyo call for an immediate end to the war in Iran, and urge the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, to protect the country’s “pacifist” constitution. Photograph: Justin McCurry/The Guardian

US president Donald Trump said in-person talks with Iran will happen “very soon”, the New York Post reported today.

In an interview with the Post, Trump said vice-president JD Vance might not attend the talks due to security concerns.

Iranian navy threatens ships in strait of Hormuz without permission

The Iranian navy threatened ships attempting to pass through the strait of Hormuz without Tehran’s permission with destruction, adding that transit through the waterway remained shut, according to several shipping sources.

“Any vessel trying to travel into the sea … will be targeted and destroyed…” the message said.

Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said the military had carried out a surprise attack on Wednesday targeting hundreds of Hezbollah members across Lebanon.

“The IDF carried out a surprise strike on hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists at command centres across Lebanon. This is the largest concentrated blow Hezbollah has suffered since Operation Beepers,” Katz said in a video statement, referring to a major 2024 operation against Hezbollah involving pager bombs.

Analysis: US haste could offer opportunity to Iran

Dan Sabbagh

Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of war, and Gen Dan Caine, the head of the US armed forces, were eager to declare victory in their press conference, arguing that Iran’s navy, air force and air defences were wiped out and its ballistic missile programme “functionally destroyed”.

To that Hegseth added that the US and Israel had “finished completely destroying Iran’s industrial base” with a final package of 800 airstrikes overnight, though Tehran retains the ability to scare oil tankers from using the strait of Hormuz.

Caine offered some statistics. The general said 450 ballistic missile storage sites were targeted, 800 drone warehouses and 90% of the country’s weapons factories, including every facility that produces Shahed one-way attack drones.

Nevertheless, Hegseth had to acknowledge that Iran retains its 440kg of highly enriched uranium, buried deep underground, though he claimed it was possible to “take it out,” in what would be a high risk operation should the peace talks break down.

Though the phrase was not used, the tone was clearly ‘mission accomplished’, though in reality it was difficult to see how the US-Israeli bombing could have gone much further without deliberately hitting civilian targets and prompting accusations of war crimes.

Nor will it have been as surgical as Hegseth and Caine implied, though Iran’s internet blackout has prevented a full picture emerging.

The haste by the US to declare an end may now give Iran’s regime an opportunity – to finally obtain sanctions relief in return for abandoning nuclear enrichment on terms similar to those nearly agreed in Geneva before the war broke out.

However, it has taken five weeks of bombing to get to this point.

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