On Wednesday, Atletico Madrid came from two goals down on aggregate to advance to the Champions League quarter-finals with a thrilling 3-2 win over Inter Milan in a penalty shootout. Trailing by a goal after last month’s first leg, Atletico looked dead when Federico Di Marco opened the scoring for Inter at the Estadio Metropolitano. But Antoine Griezmann immediately leveled the home side that night, and three minutes before the end of regulation in the 90th minute, substitute Memphis Depay made it 2-2 with a brilliant low shot. Overtime.
That sparked the decisive penalty shootout, which ended with Inter missing three of five penalties, with star striker Lautaro Martinez handing Milan a chance to reach the quarter-finals when his spot-kick went off target. Competition.
“I think penalties are like a lottery. Fortunately today I stopped two penalties,” said Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak, who saved Alexis Sanchez and David Klaassen ball.
“It’s not easy to stop penalties. Sometimes it looks easy from the outside, but it’s not.”
“I’m very, very happy for the team because I thought we played a good game,” he added. “We played well. Maybe last month we weren’t in great shape, but we showed we can do more.”
The two teams can hardly come into Wednesday’s game in more contrasting form, as Inter have won 13 games since the start of 2024 while Atletico have won just one of their last five.
However, the match in the Spanish capital was a fair and exciting affair, with Atletico fighting hard for victory and both sides creating plenty of chances.
Home advantage has proven crucial for Atletico, who have won 19 of 21 games in all competitions at the Metropolitano.
Atletico are also unbeaten in 17 home games in the knockout stages of the Champions League, having pulled off a seemingly impossible comeback against runaway Serie A leaders Inter Milan in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
Atletico Madrid fights back
Depay’s powerful finish extended the game to 30 minutes, and Rodrigo Riquelme squandered a golden opportunity to equalize for Atletico without the need for extra time. score.
Inter Milan, meanwhile, missed two great chances on the break and Atletico pushed for a second, with Marcus Thuram and Nicolo Barella both underwhelming and without. Chance to seal the victory.
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter Milan will now turn their attention to winning their 20th Serie A title, while Atletico await Friday’s quarter-final draw in Nyon.
“Once we took the lead, we needed to get better in those three or four minutes to maintain the advantage DiMarco gave us,” Inzaghi said.
“At that moment it looked like the game was in our hands, but they got back into the game.”
Inter Milan, who wasted a series of chances to gain a greater first-leg advantage, lead AC Milan by 16 points with 10 games left in the league.
It was a fast-paced game from the start, with Atletico immediately equalizing through aggressive pressing.
Samuel Lino broke down the left wing to test Yann Sommer in the fifth minute before his counterpart Denzel Dumfries forced Oblak twice Save.
Inter looked dangerous on the break and the visitors took the lead thanks to quick passing and Dimarco confidently scored the first time from Barella’s fine cutback.
However, Inter’s celebrations were cut short almost immediately as Griezmann pounced on Koke’s through ball after it deflected off two Inter defenders, taking his club record tally to 176. indivual.
Shortly after the break, Atletico again tried to force Inter into their own penalty area when Griezmann produced a fine interception on Sommer.
Thuram’s shot went over after a perfect pass from Martinez, leaving Inzaghi fuming on the sidelines while Varela’s shot failed to hit Oblak in the same position.
Depay then struck and all the built-up momentum was clearly in Atletico’s direction, culminating in a joyous penalty shootout.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Topics mentioned in this article
Follow us on Google news ,Twitter , and Join Whatsapp Group of thelocalreport.in
