Last season Champions league winners Barcelona have been knocked out of the Champions League by Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid.
Both goals were scored by striker Antoine Griezmann. A header in the 36th minute and a penalty in the 88th minute was enough to knock the defending champions out.
The teams had played out a 2-1 win for Barcelona in the last game with many people disgruntled at the way things went.
Barcelona’s willingness to sit on that slender first-leg lead led to a cagey and tense first half-hour, but Atletico broke through with 36 minutes on the clock, as Griezmann nodded in to spark wild celebrations.
Dogged Atletico held firm for the remainder of the half and went desperately close to a second soon after the break, but Lucas Hernandez’s header was kept out by the crossbar.
Barca soon began to exert some control, keeping Atletico penned back, but Jan Oblak had little trouble keeping Luis Suarez at bay with their best chance just after the hour mark.
Atletico were forced to withstand significant pressure during the final stages, but Diego Simeone’s men held on in typical fashion and then netted a second on the break as Iniesta’s handball allowed Griezmann to convert from the spot with two minutes remaining.
Referee Nicola Rizzoli then provoked a furious reaction from Barca with his decision to award only a free-kick for Gabi’s handball, and the result means Atletico have knocked Barca out in the quarter-finals of this competition in two of the past three seasons, while they gain further psychological advantage in their quest to chase down Barca’s slender lead in the league with just six games to go.
Elsewhere, a 2-2 draw was not enough for Benfica to progress to the semi final of the Champions league. They had gone ahead through Jimenez who headed the ball past Manuel Neuer. Then a crashing Vidal shot and a Thomas Muller poke had Bayern ahead, but with just ten minutes left, Talisca curled in a lovely freekick.
Benfica charged but they couldn’t break down the Bayern defense. This means Bayern Munich join Real Madrid, Manchester City and Athletico Madrid in the Semi finals.
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