Atletico Madrid pulled off a surprise victory over UEFA Champions League favourites Barcelona, defeating them 2-0 on Wednesday night thanks to a brace from Frenchman Antoine Griezmann.
The Catalan giants were expected to build on their 2-1 first leg win in Barcelona to secure a place in the semi-finals of the competition, but a determined Atleti outfit would not allow the world-class strike force of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar to score at the Calderon.
Griezmann did well to head the opening goal in the 36th minute, putting the visitors on the back foot in the first half, before the Frenchman’s late penalty ensured a 3-2 aggregate victory, which sent the men from Madrid to the last four of the Champions League for only the second time.
The Barca fans will be exremely annoyed and irritated with this failure from their side, as this will be only the third time in eleven years that the Blaugrana have not reached the semi-final stage of Europe’s flagship club competition.
Bayern Munich travelled to Portugal for a second leg encounter on Wednesday night, with a 1-0 lead from the first leg in the bag.
Benfica would not make life easy for the Germans, and in the end a hard fought 2-2 draw would be the result, allowing FC Hollywood to progress into the semi-finals of the tournament.
Raul Jimenez excited the home fans at the Stadium of Light with a header to open Benfica’s account and level matters on aggregate, but the Germans would soon be on top again from a wonderful Arturo Vidal volley.
Thomas Muller would put Bayern in front in the second half, and even though substitute Anderson Talisca’s free kick allowed Benfica to claw back a draw on home soil, the aggregate score was still in favour of the more experienced Germans, who move on to the penultimate stage of the competition.
These four teams are now one step away from the final of the competition, which will take place in Milan on May 28.
