MADRID — How confident was Hansi Flick of turning this UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie around?

“Nine or ten [out of ten],” the Barcelona coach told Spanish TV before kickoff, undeterred by Atlético Madrid‘s imposing 2-0 first-leg lead.

And why not? When you’ve got Lamine Yamal, you’ve got every reason to be positive. The teenager is already so good, so decisive, so often, that it was no surprise to see him dominating this second leg at the Metropolitano right from the start, unfazed by the occasion or the atmosphere.

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“Since I was a kid, I’ve taken on a lot of responsibility,” the 18-year-old said the day before the game. “I’m used to it. I don’t mind.”

Yamal’s first-half performance made the prospect of a comeback possible, putting Barça 2-0 up on the night and 2-2 on aggregate. But the hosts endured, as veterans like Antoine Griezmann and captain Koke were outstanding, and they found a way back.

“It was really hard for us at first today,” Koke said afterwards.

“But we were able to get back into the game. I kept saying, ‘We’re level in the tie, we have to keep going, and get a goal.’ And that’s what we did.”

At kickoff, Atlético would have been determined to keep Yamal and the opening stages as quiet and incident-free as possible, protecting that two-goal advantage. Good luck with that. Just 30 seconds had passed when the teenager picked up the ball, charged straight at the Atlético defense, and saw his shot tipped around the post by goalkeeper Juan Musso.

It was a warning for the home side, if they needed it. But keeping Yamal quiet was never likely to be an option, especially for this makeshift Atlético defense, with Robin Le Normand and Clément Lenglet — neither first-choice for coach Diego Simeone this season — starting at center back.

Four minutes in, Yamal made it 1-0, and the culprit was Lenglet, who often looks an accident waiting to happen when he appears in these high-profile games. Under pressure, the defender gave the ball away. Ferran Torres played in Yamal, who finished through Musso’s legs.

It was the 18-year-old’s 11th Champions League goal. No player has scored more before his 19th birthday, as Kylian Mbappé had only managed 10 at the same age. Already, Atlético were wobbling, the stadium’s raucous pre-match confidence shaken. On 23 minutes, it was 2-0, Torres finishing from Dani Olmo‘s clever through ball.

Torres had been a brave selection from Flick, picked ahead of Robert Lewandowski. Torres went 13 games over two months before scoring against Espanyol last weekend. Here, Flick made the right call, as Torres delivered again.

Only a long break in play, as Fermín López received treatment for an injury to his face, allowed Atlético to compose themselves. Ademola Lookman‘s 31st-minute goal, after Griezmann played in Marcos Llorente on the right, helped the Metropolitano crowd find its voice again. Lookman has now been involved in nine goals since joining Atlético in February, second only to Julián Alvarez.

By halftime, Barcelona had created five big chances, according to Opta. Yamal had scored one of them and created three others, for Olmo, López and Torres. But they were still behind in the tie. Their 2-0 defeat at Camp Nou last week had given them so much to do. Even Lamine’s magic hadn’t yet been enough.

In the second half, there were more heart-in-mouth moments for Atlético — Torres had a goal disallowed for offside, and Olmo shot over the bar when well placed — but Barcelona never quite recovered the Yamal-led momentum of the first-half push.

Eric García‘s late red card, for a last-man shirt pull on substitute Alexander Sørloth, made the task that much harder. It was Barcelona’s second red card of the tie, after Pau Cubarsí’s early dismissal last week, two sendings off which have complicated an already difficult task. In all competitions, Barcelona have received eight red cards this season and three of them have come against Atlético.

In eight minutes of added time, Flick resorted to throwing Ronald Araújo up front, and Barça were almost rewarded when he headed over the bar in the 97th minute. After that, there was time for one last Yamal dribble, a cross to the far post towards Araújo, and it was game over.

“We played well, and we gave everything,” Frenkie de Jong said. “We tried. The feeling is that luck wasn’t on our side. We have to keep going, we’re going in the right direction. With one player fewer, it’s always more difficult.”

Simeone and Atlético’s Champions League record against Barcelona is impeccable, advancing in the quarterfinals in 2014, 2016 and now in 2026. The last two times, Atlético reached the final, only to lose to rivals Real Madrid.

This current edition is a more exciting and more vulnerable team than their reputation — and that of Simeone — might suggest. Already well adrift in LaLiga, they have a Copa del Rey final on Saturday against Real Sociedad — and then will be able to focus all their efforts on this competition.

As for Barcelona and Yamal, their season is almost certain to end with a second consecutive LaLiga title, but hopes of a first Champions League win since 2015 will have to wait another year.

“The next step is to win LaLiga,” said Flick. “We are on the way. It’s not done yet. It’s a big dream to win the Champions League. We have a young team and they can and will improve.”

DETROIT — Tigers rookie Kevin McGonigle became the latest young player to get a big-money deal, agreeing Wednesday to a $150 million, eight-year contract that starts in 2027.

An infielder who has started at third base and shortstop, McGonigle, 21, became the youngest Tigers player named to an Opening Day roster since Omar Infante in 2003. He had four hits in his major league debut on March 26 and entered Wednesday hitting .311 with one homer, eight RBIs and a .417 on-base percentage in 17 games.

“As soon as we saw this kid play and saw the way he commands the strike zone, fights for every pitch and uses the whole field, it was like, ‘Wow, that’s pretty interesting for an 18-year-old kid,'” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said. “We knew he could play the infield and he had the right physical gifts.

“It was just about how quickly everything would come together, and they came together more quickly than I ever thought.”

McGonigle, ESPN’s No. 2 prospect for the 2026 season, became the fourth top prospect to get a big-money deal since late March following a $140 million, nine-year contract for 19-year-old Pittsburgh shortstop Konnor Griffin; a $95 million, eight-year agreement for 20-year-old Seattle shortstop Colt Emerson; and a $50.75 million, eight-year pact for 21-year-old Milwaukee shortstop Cooper Pratt.

“If you think about it, this is a kid who would be eligible for this year’s draft if he had gone to college,” Harris said. “Now, he’s up here with a long-term contract, so I guess he made the right decision.”

McGonigle has a one-year contact for 2026 paying the $780,000 minimum while in the major leagues and $127,100 while in the minors.

His new deal calls for a $14 million signing bonus, including $8 million payable within 30 days of the contract’s approval by Major League Baseball and $6 million on March 31, 2028. He gets salaries of $1 million next year, $7 million in 2028, $16 million in 2029, $21 million in 2030, $22 million in 2031 and $23 million each in 2032, 2033 and 2034.

“I had the confidence to think there was a possibility for something like this to happen,” McGonigle said. “I’m just super pumped and super excited to spend the next nine years here helping this team win.”

Escalators could increase his salaries in the final three seasons, capped at $25 million in 2032, $26 million in 2033 and $28 million in 2034. The escalators, based on accomplishments starting in 2026, are $2 million for winning an MVP, $1 million for finishing second through fifth in voting, $500,000 for sixth through 10th, $500,000 for making the All-MLB first or second team, $250,000 for being elected or selected an All-Star and $250,000 for winning a Silver Slugger.

He would get a $5 million assignment bonus each time he is traded.

McGonigle’s deal covers the first three seasons after he would have been eligible for free agency.

McGonigle was selected by the Tigers 37th overall in the 2023 amateur draft out of Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast High School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. He had a hot spring that allowed him to skip Triple-A after playing in just 46 games in Double-A last season.

“Ever since I picked up a bat, this was always a dream,” he said. “Definitely at a young age, I’d say I knew I had the opportunity to play at a high level.”

He has reached base in 13 consecutive starts and 15 of 16 games. He is one of only 10 players in the major leagues with more walks (11) than strikeouts (eight) among players with at least 11 walks.

“What he is doing right now is remarkable,” Harris said. “We studied young hitters and their adjustment periods to the majors, and right down the line, they really struggled for the first 150 plate appearances in the big leagues.

“Clearly, [McGonigle] hasn’t. I can’t remember a debut that I was this impressed with through 17 games.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lehigh baseball set a Division I record by scoring 20 runs in the first inning of a 38-6 win over Coppin State on Tuesday.

Eight Mountain Hawks players had reached base in the top of the first inning, five runs were scored, and the Eagles made a pitching change before recording the first out. The remaining 15 runs came across before out 2.

Runs 4 through 16 were all scored on walks, hit by pitches or wild pitches, and first baseman Owen Walewander closed out the mayhem with a grand slam to make it 20-0.

Lehigh had 23 plate appearances during the inning with 11 walks, six HBPs and just three hits.

The 20 runs broke the previous record for a first inning of 18 set by Princeton in March 1974 and tied by Air Force in April 1974. Lehigh did come up shy of the Division I record for runs in any inning, as George Mason scored 23 in the second inning of a 2025 game against Holy Cross.

Coppin State did manage to trim a run back in the bottom of the inning to trail 20-1 through the first.

Also among the firsts set in Tuesday’s seven-inning blowout: a new Patriot League mark for runs in a game and an NCAA record seven walks drawn by senior third baseman Aidan Quinn.

Lehigh finished the game with 12 hits (five extra-base hits), 25 walks and nine HBPs. Coppin State threw 11 wild pitches.