Barcelona star left covered in blood after gruesome face injury as side knocked out of Champions League

Ed Griffiths
Tue, 14 Apr 2026 21:42:57 +0000

Fermín López was left with blood pouring from his nose and lip after a sickening collision with Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Juan Musso's studs during Tuesday night's Champions League quarter-final second leg.

The 22-year-old Barcelona forward had directed a diving header towards goal when his face connected with the goalkeeper's boot, leaving him crumpled on the pitch in obvious distress.

Medical staff rushed onto the field as López attempted to stem the bleeding using his shirt.

Teammates were barely able to watch the gruesome scenes unfold.

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Despite the heavy impact, the winger was patched up and returned to action.

Musso escaped without a booking for the challenge.

TNT Sports co-commentator Lucy Ward remarked: "Barcelona smell the blood of Atleti."

Hansi Flick's side had arrived at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano trailing 2-0 from the first leg, but their deficit was obliterated within the opening 25 minutes.

Yamal needed just four minutes to open the scoring, capitalising on former Barcelona defender Clement Lenglet's error before receiving a pass from Ferran Torres and slotting past Musso.

The 18-year-old's goal made him the youngest player in Champions League history to reach 20 goal involvements, achieving the milestone at 18 years and 275 days old.

Torres then levelled the tie on aggregate with a clinical left-footed finish after controlling Dani Olmo's incisive through ball, taking one touch to create space before beating Musso from a tight angle.

Atletico's response was swift and devastating. Marcos Llorente surged down the right flank and delivered a pinpoint cross to the back post, where Ademola Lookman got ahead of Jules Kounde to restore the hosts' aggregate advantage.

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Barcelona thought they had equalised again shortly before the hour when Torres volleyed home after Gavi's blocked effort looped into the air, but VAR ruled the goal out for offside.

The introduction of Marcus Rashford and Robert Lewandowski failed to spark the expected onslaught from the visitors.

With 11 minutes remaining, Eric Garcia was shown a red card for hauling down Alexander Sorloth as the striker bore down on goal, extinguishing any remaining hopes of a Barcelona comeback.

Ronald Araujo had one final opportunity to force extra time deep into stoppage time, but his header sailed over the crossbar, ending Barcelona's dreams of consecutive Champions League semi-final appearances.

Diego Simeone's side progress to the last four of Europe's elite competition for the first time in nine years, having last reached this stage in the 2016/17 season.

Atletico will now await the outcome of the Arsenal versus Sporting Lisbon tie to discover their semi-final opponents.

The first leg of the semi-finals is scheduled for 28 or 29 April, with the return fixtures taking place on 5 or 6 May.

The aggregate score finished 3-2 in Atletico's favour despite losing the second leg 2-1.