Atletico beat Bayern to enter UEFA CL Final

Atletico Madrid on Wednesday qualified for the UEFA Champions League Final by defeating Bayern Munich on away goals as the tie ended 2-2. The first leg ended 1-0 in favour to Atletico, while the second ended 2-1 in favour to Bayern Munich. Xabi Alonso and Robert Lewandowski scored for Bayern while Antoine Griezmann scored for Atletico in the second leg.

Bayern Munich won the game 2-1 but lost the tie 2-2 on aggregate, with Antoine Griezmann earned Atletico a spot in the UEFA Champions League final. Alonso scored the opener for Bayern, with Muller missing a penalty later, while Griezmann scored early in the second half only for Lewandowski to score with 15 minutes to go, as Torres missed a penalty late on as well.

Lineups:

Bayern Munich XI: Neuer, Lahm, Martinez, Boateng, Alaba, Ribery, Costa, Alonso,  Vidal, Müller, Lewandowski.

Atletico Madrid XI: Oblak, Juanfran, Godin, Gimenez, Filipe Luis, Augusto, Gabi, Koke, Saul, Griezmann, Torres.

First Half

The Allianz Arena was at it’s electric best as it welcomed the two sides out for the pivotal UEFA Champions League clash. After a sedate opening 10 minutes, Bayern Munich responded to their fans’ encouragement, with Vidal trying his luck from range, with Gabi mustering a shot on goal for the visitors.

It was all Bayern however, as they dominated the ball and the Bavarians ought to have gone ahead in the 20th minute, when Boateng sent Muller clear of the defence. However, Muller opted to pass to Lewandowski in a worse position that shoot, and the Polish striker’s effort from a narrow angle was saved well by Oblak.

The miss did not matter to Bayern Munich for too long, as Xabi Alonso put the Bavarians 1-0 ahead in the 31st minute. After Augusto’s foul on Alaba, Alonso stood over a free-kick on the edge of the box and squeezed an effort through a gap created in the wall by Bayern players, with his shot taking a cruel deflection of the inside of Gimenez’s legs and going past a wrong-footed Oblak into the net.

With the tie now level on aggregate, Atletico ought to have kept their heads, but Gimenez completely lost his, grabbing Javi Martinez in the box to conceded a penalty. Thomas Muller stepped up to potentially put Bayern ahead, but the Slovenian keeper triumphed over German penalty expertise, diving to his right to save Muller’s effort and then denying Alonso on the rebound.

There were unseemly scenes on the touchline as Diego Simeone had to be restrained by Ribery to prevent him from clashing with Guardiola, but things eventually calmed down as the two sides trudged off at the break, with Bayern leading 1-0 on the night.

Second Half

Diego Simeone made an attacking change at half time, taking off Augusto for winger Ferreira-Carrasco, which meant Koke switched to the centre. However, it was Bayern doing all the attacking, as they pushed incredibly high up the pitch at the start of the second half, with Lahm and Alaba almost playing as wingers.

It came back to bite the Bavarians, as their defence was left stranded up the pitch when Torres threaded an exquisite through ball to to Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman was in acres of space, and kept his composure to slot the ball past Neuer and equalize for Atletico, thus levelling the tie in the 53rd minute.

Bayern were increasingly desperate and began to overwhelm Atletico, with Oblak saving well from Alonso and Lewandowski. However Oblak was left with no chance when Lewandowski scored in the 74th minute, heading home unmarked from two yards after Vidal set him up with a far post headed layoff from Alaba’s left wing cross.

The drama of the night continued in the 84th minute, when Torres was brough down on the edge of the box by Martinez, but the referee pointed to the penalty spot, to huge Bayern protests. With Griezmann having been substituted, Torres stepped up and shot to Neuer’s left, but the German dived at full stretch to pull of a save and keep Bayern alive in the tie.

It was the goalkeepers who were earning their corn as Oblak pulled off an incredible save in the 88th minute, palming away Alaba’s shot that was deflected and looked to be heading for the bottom corner. With Simeone losing control of his emotions on the touchline, his players kept their cool on the pitch in contrast, holding on for the final whistle that sparked off wild celebrations.