Atletico stun Barca; Bayern cruise

Atletico Madrid defeated FC Barcelona 1-0 in the second leg to qualify for the semifinal of Champions League with a 2-1 aggregate win. The Wednesday result, which came thanks to an early Koke goal, ended a run of four draws between the two teams this season.

Looking at the names in the Barca squad, Atletico’s superiority over five meetings this campaign has to be down to the capacity of coach Diego Simeone to get every ounce of effort from his squad. Proof of that was the performance of striker Adrian Lopez, drafted in to replace injured star, Diego Costa. Adrian ran his heart out and was vital as cheered on by a fervent crowd in the Vicente Calderon Stadium, Atletico tore into Barcelona and could have sealed qualification in the first 20 minutes. It was Jorge Resurreccion’s (Koke) sixth minute goal that proved decisive as he fired home from close range after Adrian had teed him up with a header.

Former Barca striker, David Villa then hit the woodwork twice before the 20th minute as Atletico blew Barca off the pitch. Atletico didn’t give the Catalans any respite, closing down spaces in an incredible display of physical of football prowess.

With Fabregas struggling to get involved and Messi crowded out every time he got the ball, it was almost impossible to create chances and the few sights at goal Barcelona had were magnificently dealt with by Thibaut Courtois in the Atletico goal. Barca began the second half strongly, but were unable to make the breakthrough and although Martino replaced first Cesc and then Andres Iniesta with Alexis Sanchez and Pedro Rodriguez, it was not to be their night.

Berlin: Bayern Munich came from behind to eliminate Manchester United with a 3-1 triumph in the second leg of Champions League quarterfinal.

Bayern dominated the first half but failed to overcome Manchester’s well-positioned defence. After the break, the visitors piled on pressure but the Bavarians struck back with three goals within 17 minutes.

Manchester showed no intention to threat Bayern’s defence in the first half but after the restart the visitors took the defending champions by surprise as Frenchman Patrice Evra hammered home from the edge of the box to give the visitors the lead in the 57th minute. Bayern responded through Mario Mandzukic, who headed home a cross from Franck Ribery. The hosts then made it 2-1 with Thomas Mueller tapping in a square pass from Arjen Robben. Robben then put the result beyond doubt with a solo run in the 76th minute.