Barcelona is out of the UEFA Champions League after losing by two goals to nil against Atletico Madrid, and Pep Guardiola is still on course to face his new club Man City after his Bayern side squeeze past Benfica 3-2 on aggregate.

I always thought the only team capable of beating Barcelona in this year’s Champions League was Atletico Madrid. Tonight they proved my gut right. They eliminated them from the quarterfinals two years ago, and Diego Simeone’s men have done it again after winning by two goals to nil at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Jimmy Greaves once said, “football is a funny old game.” How right he was. A fortnight ago, Barcelona had enjoyed a 39 match unbeaten run. Walking into the cauldron of the Vicente Calderon, they had lost two out of their last three. In contrast, Atletico was hammering balls into the back of their home net for fun with 11 in their last three home games.

Five of those goals had come from Antoine Griezmann, and one doubts he would have started tonight’s game had Fernando Torres not been missing through suspension after being sent off in the first leg. The Frenchman did start, and boy did he make a difference.