Atletico de Madrid joins Real Madrid, Manchester City & Bayern Munich as the final 4 Clubs that will go into next Fridays draw that will match up the semi-finals of Champions.
Atletico started strong from the kick-off & continued the intensity throughout the whole game. Barcelona as expected created their own opportunities but were neutralized in most of the occasions by a solid & very well positioned tactically opposition team.
The stadium was filled with 53.000 roaring fans which pushed their team onwards & the players felt it. Great effort from the locals that definitely played their role as the "12th man".
Although Atletico was as a whole a discipled team, some names did stand out. Again Frenchman Antoine Griezmann was a star. Apart from scoring both goals - a wonderful header in the 36th min & a penalty in the 88th min - the man did not stop running. Other names to note are defender Godin who was a rock, Koke who was everywhere, Captain Gabi & Augusto did the "dirty work".
The match, as expected, had controversial moments. A clear hand-ball by Pique in the penalty area was not called & another hand-ball by Atletico Captian Gabi right at the end of the game not called. Added to this the tension gave rise to some notable clashes between opposing players that pushed things to the edge.
For FC Barcelona, disappointing to see Messi not shine at all, while Neymar was practically a shadow. Luis Suarez had flashes but was well held out by the Atletico defender Godin & Lucas. As for the rest, they all tried hard & pulled from pride but Atletico simply played better, deserved the win & the qualification into the Champions League semis.
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