Atletico Madrid beat Inter Milan on penalties to secure the Champions League quarter-finals spot after Memphis Depay’s late strike secured a 2-2 aggregate draw on Wednesday night.
Atletico Madrid bounced back from two goals down on aggregate against Inter Milan with a thrilling 3-2 penalty shoot-out victory on Wednesday.
Trailing by a single goal after last month’s first leg, Federico Dimarco doubled Inter’s overall advantage at the Estadio Metropolitano in the 33rd minute.
But Antoine Griezmann swift response levelled up for the hosts on the night and three minutes before the end of the regulation 90 minutes substitute Memphis Depay took the encounter to extra time with a fine low finish.
That set up the decisive shoot-out which ended with Inter missing three of their five penalties, star striker Lautaro Martinez handing passage to the last eight to Atletico when he booted his spot-kick way off target.
The two teams could barely have come into Wednesday’s match in more contrasting form as Inter had won 13 matches on the bounce since the start of 2024 while Atletico had won only one of their last five.
However it was an even and exciting contest in the Spanish capital in which Atletico pushed hard for the win and both sides created a hatful of opportunities
Depay smashed a powerful effort off the woodwork moments before his strike took the two teams to an additional 30 minutes while Rodrigo Riquelme wasted a glorious chance to snatch the tie for Atletico without the need for extra-time.
However, Inter were left ruing two great chances on the break as Atletico pushed for their second, both Marcus Thuram and Nicolo Barella finishing poorly with chances to seal the tie.
Simone Inzaghi’s Inter now turn their attentions back to winning their 20th Serie A title while Atletico await Friday’s draw for the last eight in Nyon.
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