Atletico topple Inter on penalties in Madrid

Atletico Madrid come from 2-0 down on aggregate to stun Italy’s champions-elect and last season’s UEFA Champions League runners’ up, Inter, to progress into the quarter-finals of this season’s competition. 

LINEUPS

ATLETI XI: Oblak; Savic, Witsel, Mario Hermoso; Molina, Llorente, Koke*, De Paul, Lino; Griezmann, Morata

ATLETI SUBS: Moldovan, Gomis, Gabriel Paulista, Reinildo, Azpilicueta, Vermeeren, Barrios, Saul Niguez, Riquelme, Depay, Angel Correa

INTER XI: Sommer; Pavard, De Vrij, Bastoni; Dumfries, Barella, Calhanoglu, Mkhitaryan, Dimarco; Lautaro Martinez*, Thuram

INTER SUBS: Audero, Di Gennaro, Bisseck, Acerbi, Darmian, Stankovic, Klaassen, Frattesi, Asllani, Buchanan, Alexis Sanchez, Sarr

Action: After dominating the first-leg but only taking a one-goal lead to the Spanish capital, Internazionale felt the pressure but were once again on top for much of the first-half.

There were two big chances early on for striker Marcus Thuram. The Frenchman, from a tight-ish angle, struck low at Jan Oblak and then his rebound was saved once again by the Slovenian goalkeeper.

Inter did then double their aggregate lead, though, when Lautaro Martinez fed the ball to Henrikh Mkhitaryan and then he set free Nicolo Barella. His cut back was then slammed home by left wing-back Federico Dimarco.

Atletico did fight back almost immediately, though, bar their talisman, Antoine Griezmann. Koke dinked the ball through to Los Rojiblancos’ star man, who swivelled and struck past Yann Sommer to give the hosts some hope.

They did improve after getting back onto level terms on the night but Inter went into the half-time interval with their 2-1 aggregate lead intact. 
Inter appeared in control for much of the second-half and were seemingly the likelier of the two to take the lead on the night but then the game took a turn.

In the 87th minute, Atletico’s integral skipper, Koke, fed the ball into Memphis Depay centrally just inside the box and the Dutchman spun well before unleashing an impressive, well driven effort into the corner past Sommer.

As the game headed into extra-time, Inter rued all of their missed chances over the course of both legs and there was yet more to come in the extra 30 minutes.

Lautaro Martinez, enjoying an excellent season but quickly developing a Gonzalo Higuain-like reputation for consistently missing big chances in big matches, narrowly missed the target from around six yards with a free header from a corner in the first-half of extra-time.

Quite remarkably, and almost rather amusingly, it was indeed Lautaro Martinez who missed the final penalty, blazing high and wide after Inter had already missed two penalties, and that miss sent Atletico, quite astonishingly, into the quarter-finals. 

Lautaro Martinez misses the target completely as Atletico Madrid go through to the quarter-finals! 🔴⚪️#UCL pic.twitter.com/ezzhXnwNqF

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 13, 2024

The big picture: Atletico Madrid’s season was in danger of quickly unravelling as they remain under pressure for their place in La Liga’s top four and also out of the Copa del Rey in the semi-finals but they will head into the spring reinvigorated. Last season’s runners’ up Inter would have been viewed as one of the strongest teams in the competition and they are romping their way to a 20th Italian title but there will be no European glory for Simone Inzaghi’s men.

Man of the match: Koke. A day after it was revealed Koke is close to signing a new deal at the Metropolitano, it was he who provided much-needed incision for Diego Simeone and his side.

EVENTS

Kick-off

’33 | GOAL: Dimarco (0-1)

’35 | GOAL: Griezmann (1-1)

Half-time

’87 | GOAL: Depay (2-1)

Full-time

Extra-time kick-off

Extra-time half-time

Extra-time full-time

Penalties (3-2)