Atletico Madrid Reach Final On Away Goals After Dramatic Clash

 

Atletico Madrid reached the Champions League final after a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich saw them go through on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw. In a thrilling affair which saw two missed penalties, Xabi Alonso handed Bayern the lead on the night after 31 minutes with a deflected free-kick from just outside the area.

Jan Oblak denied Thomas Muller from the penalty spot just moments later, and Atletico were back level on the night and 2-1 up on aggregate just after the break through Antoine Griezmann's neat finish having been one-on-one with Manuel Neuer. Xabi Alonso puts Bayern Munich ahead in the first half from a deflected free-kick  With Bayern needing two goals, Robert Lewandowski's close-range header brought the hosts to within one, before Neuer saved Fernando Torres' penalty with six minutes remaining. Atletico held on, and will play either Manchester City or Real Madrid in the final in Milan on May 28 as they look for their first success in Europe's elite competition.

Pep Guardiola, who has now been knocked out at the semi-final stage in each of the last four seasons, made three changes from the first leg in Madrid, bringing Muller back into the starting line-up to replace Thiago Alcantara, while Diego Godin returned from injury to replace Stefan Savic for Atletico.

The hosts took the lead on the night and levelled the tie just after the half-hour mark through Alonso, whose free-kick from 20 yards deflected off Jose Gimenez and past the rooted Oblak. Just moments later, Bayern had a penalty to take the lead for the first time in the tie after Gimenez was penalised for grabbing Javi Martinez from a corner, but Oblak guessed correctly and parried away Muller's spot-kick, before blocking again from Alonso's rebound.

Atletico got their advantage back eight minutes after the break through Griezmann's, who was just onside as he latched onto Fernando Torres' through-ball before slotting past Neuer for his 31st goal of the season, meaning Bayern needed to score twice. Jan Oblak gets to the ball ahead of Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery  Oblak produced another smart save with 20 minutes remaining, getting down well to stop Lewandowski's half volley from inside the area before smothering the rebound. Bayern created a nervy finish with 16 minutes remaining through Lewandowski, who headed home from close range after Vidal's superb header across goal from David Alaba's left-wing cross.

Atletico earned a controversial penalty through a rare counter-attack with seven minutes remaining as Martinez brought down Torres, but the replays showed that the initial contact was half a yard outside of the area. Torres brushed himself down and stepped up to take the penalty, but Neuer saved to his right to keep Bayern in the game.

Oblak performed more heroics with just two minutes left, saving low to his left on the line from Alaba's deflected shot from the edge of the box, but the La Liga side held on to reach their second final in three seasons