March 19, (THEWILL) — Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid are through to the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals after a 7-5 aggregate victory over Tottenham Hotspur, despite suffering a 3-2 defeat in the second leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday.
Barcelona await in the last eight, with Atletico twice recovering from a goal down during the second leg to protect the sizeable first-leg advantage built in Spain.
Nigeria winger Ademola Lookman had a goal ruled out for offside inside six minutes before Mathys Tel forced two fine saves from Juan Musso. Tel then provided the cross from which Randal Kolo Muani headed Atletico in front with a well-placed finish on the half-hour mark.
Lookman initiated the counter-attack that culminated in Julian Alvarez crashing into the top-left corner in the 47th minute, though Xavi Simons responded almost immediately with a fine strike from outside the area. David Hancko then headed home from a corner 15 minutes from time to put the tie well beyond doubt.
Jose Maria Gimenez’s reckless challenge on Simons handed Spurs a late penalty, which the Dutchman swept into the bottom-left corner in the 90th minute for a consolation, but Atletico held firm to book their place in the quarter-finals.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
