Barcelona vs Atletico Madrid Report

Barcelona 1-1 Atletico Madrid: Neymar bails out Blaugrana after thunderbolt from Diego

Diego opened the scoring with a sensational strike from distance only to see his fellow Brazilian level matters off a sublime Andres Iniesta pass.

Neymar's composed finish canceled out Diego's stunning goal as Barcelona rescued a 1-1 draw with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.

It appeared as though the visitors would take a slender lead from the quarterfinal encounter at Camp Nou on Wednesday after the Brazilian struck.

Diego had started on the bench, but was called upon in the first half when Diego Costa – who overcame a knee injury to start the match – had to exit. And he duly lit up a match that proved every bit as tight as the teams' respective positions in La Liga suggested with a rasping drive from 25 yards.

However, Brazil international Neymar ensured Gerardo Martino's would not head into the return leg at Vicente Calderon with a deficit when he curled past the otherwise excellent Thibaut Courtois with just under 20 minutes remaining.

Diego Simeone's men will still have the advantage of an away goal in that fixture, but the tie remains nicely poised after the first encounter.

The visitors showed no signs of being fazed by a boisterous home crowd in the opening exchanges, with home goalkeeper Jose Manuel Pinto showing the biggest display of nerves, but former Barca man David Villa failed to punish his weak clearance, inexplicably missing the target from 8 yards after being found by Arda Turan.