With tears in his eyes, Diego Simeone stared at the supporters of Atletico Madrid celebrating in the Metropolitano stands on Wednesday.
Minutes earlier, the coach was pacing back and forth by the sideline, unable to watch the tense penalty shoot-out that ended with Atletico triumphing over Inter and advancing to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.
Jan Oblak made two saves and Lautaro Martinez sent his shot over the crossbar as Atletico defeated Inter 3-2 on penalties after scoring a late winner in regulation time.
Photo: AFP
“It was moving,” Simeone said. “I’m happy for the players and for the fans. We are among the best eight teams in Europe again. That tells a lot about this club.”
Oblak saved the penalties by Alexis Sanchez and Davy Klaassen before Martinez missed the final kick for last year’s runners-up in the European competition.
“In the end it’s a bit about luck in the shoot-out,” Oblak said. “Because you have to choose the correct side and you have to make the stop. If the player takes the kick perfectly, it’s impossible to stop it. Gladly, I was able to make the saves. What matters is the victory and that we made it to the quarter-finals.”
Memphis Depay, Rodrigo Riquelme and Angel Correa converted their penalties for Atletico, with Saul Niguez having his shot saved by Inter goalkeeper Yann Sommer.
Hakan Calhanoglu and Francesco Acerbi scored for the visitors in the shoot-out.
Atletico reversed their 1-0 first-leg loss after Depay scored an 87th-minute goal that gave Simeone’s team a 2-1 win in regulation time.
Atletico did not make it past the group stage last season and were eliminated by Manchester City in the last eight in 2021-2022.
Inter, who lost last year’s final to Manchester City, had arrived at the stadium enjoying a 13-game winning streak. They had not lost in 15 consecutive games in all competitions and had won all of their matches this year.
“We must be proud of what we did in this Champions League,” Inter coach Simone Inzaghi said. “In the second half we should have done better. In extra-time we had more energy, but unfortunately we made too many mistakes.”
Inter opened the scoring in regulation time with Federico Dimarco in the 33rd minute, but Atletico equalized two minutes later with Antoine Griezmann in his return from injury.
In the other Champions League match on Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund defeated PSV Eindhoven 2-0 at home to advance 3-1 on aggregate.
The eight teams in the draw for the quarter-finals are Atletico, Dortmund, Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal and Barcelona.
It was an open match at the Metropolitano, with Atletico pressing forward from the start and Inter threatening on counterattacks.
The hosts dominated the final part of the match and created several chances until Depay broke through with the late winner with a low shot from inside the area after a nice set up by midfielder Koke Resurreccion.
Inter had increased their first-leg lead with Dimarco scoring with a low shot from the middle of the area after a pass by Nicolo Barella following a breakaway in the 33rd minute, but it did not take long for Atletico to answer, equalizing a couple of minutes later with Griezmann scoring after picking up a loose ball inside the area.
Griezmann was making his return to action after spraining his ankle in the first leg in Italy three weeks ago.
The France forward has been key for Atletico this season, but had not scored in eight consecutive matches in all competitions.
Riquelme came close to sealing Atletico’s triumph in the third minute of stoppage-time in regulation, but his shot from near the penalty spot missed over the crossbar.
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