Eric Garcia sent off! Barcelona defender sees red in another controversial decision in Champions League tie vs Atletico Madrid

Barcelona have suffered another major blow in their Champions League tie today. In the 79th minute, Garcia was shown a straight red card by Turpin following a tense VAR review. The defender was penalised for pulling down Alexander Sorloth, who was breaking into space. Despite Jules Kounde being nearby, the officials deemed the Spaniard to be the last man. This crucial decision has infuriated the visitors, leaving the club facing an uphill battle to turn the tie around with only 10 men on the pitch for the remainder of the match.

This controversial sending-off mirrors the exact curse that plagued the team in the first leg. In that initial encounter, Pau Cubarsi was dismissed in the 42nd minute for a professional foul, which directly led to Julian Alvarez scoring from the resulting free-kick to secure a 2-0 victory for Atletico.

Today’s incident involved a tight offside call before the foul was confirmed. Explaining the decision, refereeing analyst Iturralde Gonzalez stated on Spanish TV: "They have to check if it is offside and if it is not, they have to check if it is a clear goalscoring opportunity... If it is not offside, I think it is more red than yellow."

Before the red card completely changed the dynamic, Barcelona were playing a magnificent game and had successfully levelled the aggregate score. Lamine Yamal opened the scoring after just four minutes, capitalising on an error by Clement Lenglet. Ferran Torres then doubled the lead with a superb left-footed strike in the 24th minute to make it 2-0 on the night. However, Atletico Madrid quickly responded when Marcos Llorente brilliantly set up Ademola Lookman to score, shifting the aggregate to 3-2 in favour of the hosts.

Atletico go through to the next round with a 3-2 aggregate win, they will go on to face either Arsenal or Sporting CP in the next round.

Barcelona, meanwhile, have a massive task to rebuild their confidence for the upcoming domestic fixtures after this painful European setback. They are, however, nine points clear at the top of La Liga and expected to win the competition.