Atletico Madrid emerged on top in the battle between the two Spanish giants-Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for yet another occasion in the ongoing season. They maintained their unbeaten run against the Catalans in the Champions League to seal their berth in the semis for the first time in the history of their club. The tie was a low scoring win with Atletico eventually winning 2-1 on aggregate.
In a situation where a draw would have done it for Atletico, for they had the away goal advantage, they managed to beat the 4-time European champions 1-0 in Madrid. The goal came in the 4th minute of the match when Koke found the back of the net after he was left unmarked. It could have gone much worse for the home side as they hit the woodwork three times in the opening 20 minutes of the match. It was a real shock that the score stayed 1-0 for Atletico. Barca on the other hand failed to penetrate with an ineffective attacking line-up, Lionel Messi unusually turning out to be totally blunt upfront. Even Brazilian Neymar failed to impress in the attacks as he headed one wide from he should have found the net. Atletico however continued their display of missed chances to kill off the encounter and they could feel the absence of a striker like Diego Costa’s caliber. Costa, who was ruled out of the match due to an injury, might have relished on such opportunities and much to the good fortune of the Atletico fans they did not miss him too much as thy managed to get over the finishing line.
But it was not that great for the Catalans as it was their earliest exit from the tournament in seven years. Even the presence of Messi and Neymar couldn’t alter their fate. But it is quite inevitable that the Catalans will be back strongly in the next edition of the tournament in the next season. Till then it’s curtains for the 4-time champions.
Tags: Atletico Atletico Madrid Atletico Madrid beat Barcelona Barcelona Champions League Diego Costa Koke Lionel Messi neymar UEFA Champions League 2014 UEFA news
