Atlético and Dortmund reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League

The last two spots in the quarterfinals of the Champions League were won by Atlético Madrid and Borussia. The Spanish club defeated Inter in the return match of the 1/8 finals. Having won 2:1 in regular time, Madrid equalized the score on aggregate, and then were more accurate in the penalty shootout – 3:2. Dortmund beat PSV 2:0.

In the first match at home, Inter admittedly looked better than Atlético, but achieved only a minimal victory, which left Madrid a chance of success. After all, they are also very strong at home and have not lost at the Metropolitan for a long time. It was impossible to predict the outcome of the confrontation between two such big clubs, as well as to give preference to one of them. At the same time, Inter still had a simpler task, since they were quite happy with a draw, while Atlético’s situation forced them to take risks, but with an eye on their own goal.

It’s quite natural that the hosts’ starting lineup featured the duo of forwards Alvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann. Fortunately, the Frenchman managed to recover from the injury. However, the Milanese did not abandon their usual scheme with a pair of forwards Lautaro Martinez and Marcus Thuram. Already in the first minutes, Samuel Lino took over the game and unexpectedly easily broke through his left flank to the goal. The Brazilian finished the raid with a good shot into the far corner, and goalkeeper Yann Sommer had to work hard to avert the threat. The visitors responded with a mirror attack when Denzel Dumfries ran down the right and fired twice on target. True, if the first attempt was still dangerous, Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak coped with the finish easily.

In general, the teams made it clear that they do not intend to open up and indulge in scoring chances either. Morata had an opportunity to score, but Sommer caught the ball after his header. It’s surprising that in just two minutes the opponents exchanged goals in the first half. The visitors opened the scoring when left winger Federico Dimarco moved into the center of the penalty area and crossed Nicolo Barella, who found himself in his position. However, immediately a mistake by defender Benjamin Pavard, who cut the ball straight to Griezmann, who anticipated such a stray rebound and was already under the goal, reduced Inter’s advantage to nothing. Although the Frenchman soon redeemed himself when he prevented his compatriot from scoring a quick double. It seems that Sommer would not have helped out in that episode.

In the second half, Griezmann had another great chance to put Atlético ahead with a pass from the right from Marcos Llorente, and this time it was only Sommer who could save Milan, which he did. And then another pass from Llorente almost led to trouble in front of their goal, but Morata failed to get a good feel for the ball. In this match, Madrid looked better than Inter, which succumbed to the temptation to play to maintain a draw, and its scoring combination was random. Although Martinez, towards the end of regular time, organized his partners two one-on-one opportunities with the goalkeeper. Thuram should have scored, but his shot went over the crossbar, and Barella hit Oblak.

As a result, Inter failed to defend the draw. Atlético’s replacement of Morata with Memphis Depay worked. The Dutchman immediately began to trample the Milan defense, hit the post, and then sent the ball into the net when Koke gave him a super pass into the penalty area. Thus, the Madrid team equalized the score on aggregate – 2:2. Moreover, they could have knocked out the last Champions League finalist in the last minute of stoppage time, but Rodrigo Riquelme fired just over the goal after Griezmann cut out a brilliant pass for him.

In extra time, Riquelme fired a great cross at Depay, and Sommer was lucky that the ball flew towards him and not slightly to the side, because then he would hardly have reacted. At Inter, Martinez scored with a header near the bar. But gradually the teams resigned themselves to settling everything in a penalty shootout. And here it turned out that Diego Simeone’s players had stronger nerves. And Oblak showed himself in all his glory. The Slovenian goalkeeper saved two shots in a row from Alexis Sanchez and Davi Klassen, and Martinez missed the ball completely. For Madrid, Depay, Riquelme and Angel Correa did not disappoint. On penalty kicks, Atlético prevailed 3:2 and made it to the next round of the Champions League.

In the confrontation between Borussia and PSV, not everything was clear either, despite the fact that Dortmund were now playing at home. Yes, they achieved a positive result away from home, but the draw in Eindhoven, oddly enough, instilled confidence in Peter Bosz’s team, which was convinced that it could compete with one of the leaders of German football.

However, as soon as the return match began, Borussia took the lead 1:0. Jadon Sancho received the ball from Julian Brandt near the penalty area and fired low into the near corner. The hosts tried to consolidate the advantage they had achieved, but primarily focused on maintaining it. PSV had a chance to get even, and Luuk de Jong could have sent the match into overtime if he had realized a killer chance in the end. And it all ended with Marco Reus punishing the visitors for a blunder before the final whistle. Borussia won 2:0 and advanced to the quarterfinals.

Alexander Ilyin