Barcelona 2-2 Atalanta: Lookman absent as entertaining draw sends Italians to playoffs

Barcelona and Atalanta played out an entertaining 2-2 draw, with the visitors ultimately dropping out of the UEFA Champions League top eight places.

The game began with little tension, as neither team pushed for an early goal. Atalanta created the best chances, but efforts from Sead Kolašinac and Davide Zappacosta failed to challenge Wojciech Szczęsny in the Barca goal.

Just before halftime, Zappacosta thought he had opened the scoring, but VAR intervened to rule out the goal due to offside.

The second half started in entertaining fashion and Barcelona took the lead through Lamine Yamal, who slotted home a low pass from Raphinha.

Atalanta equalized with a long-range effort from Éderson, but Barcelona quickly regained the lead through Ronald Araújo’s header from a Raphinha corner.

However, the visitors fought back, and Mario Pašalić scored a first-time effort to level the score once again. Despite a thrilling finale, neither team could find the winning goal, and the game ended 2-2.

The draw secured Barcelona’s second-place finish in the Champions League group stage, while Atalanta missed out on a top-eight spot.