ATM Caught Inter Milan in the Final Eight of the UCL
Atletico Madrid (Spain) beat Inter Milan (Italy) in a penalty shootout and won the last ticket to the UEFA Champions League (UCL) quarterfinals.
Atletico Madrid led Inter Milan 2-1 during the regular season in the second leg of the 2023-24 UCL round of 16 held at the Civitas Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain on the 14th. After losing 0-1 in the first away match, ATM made a combined 2-2 in the first and second matches to go into extra time. However, the team went into a penalty shootout as its balance was not broken in extra time, where it laughed 3-2.
ATMs rushed to the brink of collapse as Inter Milan Federico DiMarco scored the first point in the 33rd minute of the first half. The team was given the difficult task of scoring at least two goals without any additional goals during the remaining time.
How can a hero come out in a difficult situation? Ace Antoine Griezmann scored a comeback goal in just two minutes after losing a point, reviving hope. Then, Memphis Depay scored an additional goal in the 42nd minute of the second half to post a 2-2 aggregate score.
Goalkeeper Jan Oblak shone in the penalty shootout. He blocked shots of opponent team No. 2 kicker Alexis Sanchez and No. 3 Davy Klassen in succession, leading ATM to the quarterfinals.
On the other hand, Inter Milan, which lost to Manchester City (England) 0-1 in the final of last season, was considered a favorite for this season, but ended its journey in the round of 16.
Inter Milan has virtually reserved the Serie A title with 24 wins, three draws and one loss with 75 points. The gap with second-ranked AC Milan (18 wins, five draws and five losses with 59 points) is 16 points. With solid record of dominating the domestic league, the team tried again to achieve its dream of becoming a European leader, which it failed to achieve last season. It was also regrettable that Lautaro Martinez, the last tall player in the shootout, missed the goal post and the result was decided.
Borussia Dortmund (Germany) also advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating PSV Eindhoven (the Netherlands) 2-0 at Zyduna Ignal Park on the same day and making the total score 3-1.
Dortmund, where Jadon Sancho, who returned to his old team after a feud at Manchester United, scored the first goal three minutes into the game, had franchise star Marco Reus scoring a decisive goal just before the end of the second half.
This obscured all the teams that advanced to the UCL quarterfinals.
Of the five major European leagues, Italy’s Serie A team was the only one to be wiped out.
Spain’s La Liga has the largest number of teams, with three being Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and ATM. Two teams, Manchester City and Arsenal, joined the English Premier League and two teams, Bayern Munich and Dorotmund, also joined the “Elite 8” in the German Bundesliga. In the French Ligue 1, PSG rose and boosted their self-esteem. 토토사이트