Atletico’s Antoine Griezmann (left), celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal during the Champions League second leg semifinal soccer match between Bayern Munich and Atletico de Madrid
A goal from Antoine Griezmann sent Atletico Madrid to the Champions League final for the second time in three seasons despite a 2-1 defeat at Bayern Munich yesterday.
Atletico, which lost to city rival Real Madrid in the 2014 final, progressed on the away goals rule with an aggregate score of 2-2 after winning the first leg of their semifinal in Madrid 1-0.
Atletico striker Fernando Torres had the chance to settle it with a late penalty, only for Manuel Neuer to save his spot kick.
Torres wasn’t the only one to miss from the spot. Atletico’s Jan Oblak saved a penalty from Thomas Mueller in the first half, minutes after Xabi Alonso leveled the tie with a free kick in the 31st.
Griezmann scored in the 54th to put Atletico in the driving seat, before Robert Lewandowski headed Bayern back in front on the night in the 74th to set up a furious finale.
Bayern needed one more goal to avoid going out at the semifinal stage for the third straight season to a Spanish team and poured everything forward — only to be denied by Oblak and his defenders.
“We’re into the final. We can be proud and happy. Bayern have amazing players up front and it was impossible to keep a clean sheet,” Oblak said.
Atletico will play either Manchester City or Real Madrid in the final in Milan on May 28. Their first leg match finished 0-0 last week in Manchester, with the return match in Madrid today (Macau time).
Atletico coach Diego Simeone described Bayern as “the best team that I played against in my career. It’s great to see how my team played with such intensity. I was literally in love with this game.”
Simeone, whose side defeated Barcelona in the quarterfinals, added: “We have played against two of the three best teams in Europe. We’ve knocked them out, and I’m very proud of that.”
Torres had no preference over another Madrid derby or an Anglo-Spanish final in Milan.
“We have the chance to create history,” he said. “We want to win the tournament and the opponent is irrelevant.” AP
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