ATLETICO Madrid came from behind on aggregate and qualified for the quarter-finals of the Champions League with a 3-2 penalty shootout win over last season’s finalists Inter Milan at the Estadio Metropolitano, Thursday (14/3). Los Rojiblancos remain mighty unbeaten in their last 17 Champions League knockout round matches at home.
Atletico trailed by one goal following the first leg. Their hopes seemed to be buried when Federico Dimarco scored Inter’s opener in the 33rd minute. However, Antoine Griezmann immediately equalized for the hosts three minutes later.
Memphis Depay, who came on as a substitute, scored a goal in the 87th minute which took the draw to extra time with an aggregate score of 2-2.
“Our people, our supporters, are very decisive in our stadium. The whole world can see it, and that made our players thrive today once morest an extraordinary opponent,” said Atletico coach Diego Simeone.
“Koke gave everything there, and Griezmann ran until he mightn’t run any more. Memphis came in and showed up when we really needed him. This is what we needed. Being in the top eight may sound easy, but it’s not,” he added.
In the penalty shootout, three Inter executors failed, including star striker Lautaro Martinez. Martinez’s failure, whose execution soared, meant that Inter had to give up their ticket to the last eight to Atletico.
Also read: Diego Simeone believes Atletico Madrid can beat Inter Milan in the second leg
Atletico goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, became a hero saving two kicks from Alexis Sanchez and Davy Klaassen.
“I think penalties are a lottery. Today fortunately I stopped two goals. It’s not easy to stop penalties. Sometimes it looks easy from the outside, but it’s not,” said Oblak.
“I’m very, very happy for the team because I think we played a great match. We played well. Maybe in the last month we weren’t in good shape but we showed we can do more,” he added.
Also read: Champions League Top 16 Preview: Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid
Inter’s neat record of always winning 13 consecutive matches since the beginning of 2024 has also been broken. Atletico have only won one of their last five matches.
However, the match was balanced and interesting. Atletico worked hard to get the win and both teams created lots of chances.
Home advantage turns out to be very important for Atletico, who have a winning record in 19 of their 21 matches at the Metropolitano in all competitions. They were able to recover from an impossible position once morest the Italian Serie A leaders.
Also read: Ahead of Inter Milan vs Atletico Madrid: Simone Inzaghi is wary of the depth of the opposing squad
Inter coach Simone Inzaghi was disappointed with the result. The reason is, they grabbed the momentum by scoring first but just let it go.
Inter’s defeat also ensured that Italy had no representatives in the last eight. The Nerazzurri are now turning their attention back to focusing on Serie A. This is because Inter are getting closer to their 20th Scudetto.
“When we were ahead, we needed to be better, those three or four minutes to maintain the lead that Dimarco gave us. At that moment the game seemed to be in our hands, but instead they came back into the game,” said Inzaghi.
“Obviously we are disappointed with the whole Inter family. (But) we have to be proud of what we did in this Champions League. In the second half, we might have performed better. In extra time, we had more energy, but unfortunately we also made a lot of mistakes,” said Imzaghi. (AFP/UEFA/Z-6)
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