Atletico Madrid Beat Inter Milan To Reach Champions League Quarter-finals
Atletico Madrid dramatically beat Inter Milan on penalties to reach the Champions League quarter-finals and eliminate last season’s runners-up.
It finished 2-2 on aggregate at the end of extra time after Inter had thrown away a two-goal advantage.
Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak was then the hero, saving penalties from Alexis Sanchez and Davy Klaassen, before Inter’s Lautaro Martinez blasted his spot-kick over as the Spanish side advanced in thrilling style.
The draw for the quarter-finals takes place at 11:00 GMT on Friday, 15 March with Atletico’s potential opponents being Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund, who beat PSV Eindhoven in Wednesday’s other tie.
Inter, who lost 1-0 to Manchester City in last season’s final, went first in the shootout but Oblak saved two of the first three kicks he faced. Atletico’s Saul Niguez also missed, with Yann Sommer blocking his effort.
However, Memphis Depay, Rodrigo Riquelme and Angel Correa all converted their penalties to take Atletico into the last eight and complete a superb recovery.
Serie A leaders Inter won 1-0 in the first leg in Italy and looked to be cruising through when they doubled their overall advantage on Wednesday through Federico Dimarco’s first-time finish following Nicolo Barella’s pull-back on the left.
But Atletico pulled a goal back two minutes later, drawing level on the night.
Koke’s pass was not cleared, Benjamin Pavard sliced his clearance and Antoine Griezmann reacted quickest to give his side hope of a memorable fightback.
Substitute Depay hit the inside of the post for Atletico as they looked to get the goal they needed.
It came soon after as Depay’s low, angled shot in the 87th minute went in the bottom corner to the delight of the passionate home crowd.
Another Atletico substitute, Riquelme, had a glorious chance to win the tie but blazed over in the third minute of injury time as the match went into extra time, with neither side able to find the decisive goal before the drama of penalties.
Before this week, there had not been a penalty shootout in the Champions League since the 2016 final, when Real Madrid beat Atletico to lift the trophy.
