UCL: Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid through to Quarter-Finals
Atletico Madrid and Bayern Munich are the first two teams in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals as their respective 4-1 and 1-1 results on tuesday night saw them through against AC Milan and Arsenal in front of their home fans.
Diego Costa scored twice as Atletico sealed passage into the last eight for the first time in 17 years. Costa, whose late header earned Atletico a 1-0 first-leg win at San Siro, acrobatically put the Spanish side ahead with the first chance of Tuesday’s last-16 second leg but former Real Madrid star Kaka headed Milan level. Arda Turan’s deflected strike made it 2-1 to Atletico before the break, and then second-half goals from Raul Garcia and Costa sealed a deserved 5-1 aggregate victory for the Spanish side.
The night saw Costa score his sixth goal in this season’s Champions League and 27th in all competitions and, of more immediate significance, it left Milan needing to score at least three times to go through.
Elsewhere in Germany, Arsenal bowed out despite a spirited 1-1 draw against holders Bayern at the Allianz Arena. It was always going to be a tall order for Arsene Wenger’s men after losing the first leg of their last-16 tie 2-0 in London last month.
Despite a resilient effort from the Premier League side, who equalised through Lukas Podolski having fallen behind to Bastian Schweinsteiger’s close-range effort early in the second half. There was late drama when Lukasz Fabianski saved a stoppage-time penalty from Thomas Muller.
The contest got off to a low-key start by both sides, which was understandable given the importance of the first goal in the balance of the tie. Bayern thought they had all but sewn up the tie on 27 minutes when Javi Martinez fired home a chipped free-kick by Thiago, but the offside flag was swiftly raised. Arsenal meanwhile came close to snatching a crucial away goal when Olivier Giroud’s header from a corner was plucked out of the air by Manuel Neuer.
Bayern looked to have made the tie safe when Schweinsteiger converted Franck Ribery’s cross on 55 minutes. Arsenal, though, produced a quick response to level when Podolski, the former Bayern striker, crashed the ball in at the near post. But despite a good spell from the visitors it was not enough to pull off an upset and at least Fabianski’s late save avoided what would have been an unjust defeat.