Despite starting with ten men after Barrios's red card Atletico Madrid made a stunning comeback thanks to two goals from Julian Alvarez to beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at home on Tuesday and keep their hopes for top eight placement alive.

Barrios was sent off for a reckless, studs-up challenge barely 23 minutes into the game, giving Atletico a difficult task. Piero Hincapie gave the visitors the lead in first-half stoppage time as Leverkusen took advantage of the situation.

Atletico Madrid powered through the second half thanks to the excited support of 70,000 fans. In the 52nd minute Alvarez concluded a quick counterattack that led to a hard-earned equalizer.

Atletico Madrid reached victory 14 minutes before the game ended. Throughout the match Alvarez spotted a clear opening and scored in the dying minutes of the game when Leverkusen defense lost focus.

The top-eight league position and the  avoiding the drama of an extra elimination round, Atletico's hard-fought victory moved them up to third place in Champions League standings.

“Things looked bleak,” Alvarez said after the match, adding “but by playing our game and staying humble, we got the equalizer.. Then with 10 against 10, we saw the chance to win.”

“These are three very important points and they show us to keep believing in what we do,” Alvarez added.

Teams were on winning streaks before meeting each other in the contest. Atletico Madrid had captured 15th consecutive game victories before losing to Leganes the day before while Leverkusen racked up twelve straight wins across all matches.

The admiration was reciprocal in the buildup. Diego Simeone of Atletico, who played against Alonso at Real and Bayern, was unable to contain his admiration for the Leverkusen manager, referring to him as a maestro for turning his team into a "extraordinary team.”

Alvarez found the opening because his team's opponents missed the rebound on the cross. Calmly collecting the ball, he slipped past the goalkeeper, then neatly slotted in a goal from point-blank range to rescue a tired Spain side from defeat.

Diego Simeone's team achieved third place in the standing with 15 points after winning their 16th match in 17 games between all competitions. They sat only three points behind Barcelona in second place and six points away from the top spot, which Liverpool held.

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