Barcelona vs. Atlético Madrid, 2014 UEFA Champions League: Atleti grab away goal at Camp Nou

Barcelona looked extremely shaky to start the match, regularly gifting possession to Atléti in the early going. Jose Manuel Pinto committed the worst of their turnovers in the 5th minute, passing directly to an opposing midfielder. That eventually resulted in David Villa getting an open look from 12 yards, but he hit his shot just wide.

That forced substitution turned out to be a blessing for Atléti in the 56th minute, when Diego hit one of the best goals of the season from just over 25 yards out. It came from an odd angle and wasn’t exactly a high-percentage shot, but he hit it with incredible power and bend, curling it over the hand of Pinto and into the top corner at the near post to give his team a surprise lead.

Holy heck, Diego. What a hit.

Lionel Messi is an alien.

Diego Simeone replaced Costa with Diego, an attacking midfielder, so Atlético Madrid are changing formations as a result of the injury. Diego should slot in behind David Villa.

Costa was questionable for the match because of an injury that he sustained in training, but Simeone said that he would be fit to start, then played him. However, that injury was believed to be to Costa’s knee, while Tuesday’s injury appeared to be his hamstring, so it’s probably unrelated.

Pique’s injury was suffered during an aerial challenge with Atléti striker Diego Costa, who’s made painful challenges on quite a few central defenders this season. Pique fell awkwardly after taking a shoulder from Costa and sat down on the pitch, indicating that he needed to come off. It wasn’t obvious what his injury was straight away, but it appeared to be a lower leg injury of some kind. Pique walked off under his own power, but he was limping heavily.

Bartra has had a handful of excellent games for Barcelona this season, but he’s also been quite error-prone during his career with the Blaugrana. He’s never quite been able to make the jump from B-team star to starter for the first team, though he might have a chance to establish himself in the coming weeks if Pique has to miss significant time.