Atlético Madrid claimed a place in the Champions League round of 16 as they won 3-1 at FC Porto on Tuesday in a tense and lackluster match as both sides finished with 10 men.
Antoine Griezmann put Atletico into the lead in the 56th minute, putting the ball in the net after a corner after the home side missed a lot of clear chances either side of the half-time.
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Atletico’s lead is threatened when Yannick Carrasco was sent off at 67 minutes for raising his hand Otavio when fury erupted after a foul but Porto’s numerical advantage lasted only for a few moments like Wendell and Agustin Marchesin both were sent off for about five minutes.
Substitute Angel Correa gave Atletico the win with a cool finish on a counter-attack in the 90th minute, while Porto then earned a consoling penalty. Sergio Oliveira converted with the last kick of the game.
Diego Simeone’s side Atletico started the game bottom of Group B but finished second with seven points, Porto third with five and qualified for the Europa League.
“I’m happy, proud of my players,” said Simeone. “They showed personality, experience, they know how to endure the difficulties we face. We are missing three central defenders out of the four centre-backs but there are players who don’t play many important minutes.
“We have one of the most complicated groups. I thought we would get the points ahead of everyone, but we couldn’t resist Liverpool. We have more points than Milan and Porto. We need to improve, but here’s how.
“It was a great day. We will remember it as a classic in the Champions League against a great team. The match had everything.”
Liverpool top with 18 points after winning 2-1 at AC Milan, who finished last with four.
Atletico suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at home first Mallorca in LaLiga over the weekend and are missing their top three central defenders in Jose Gimenez, Stefan Savic and Felipe, forcing the midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia and come right back Sime Vrsaljko to play in the center of the defence.
Things got off to an ominous start when the striker Luis Suarez Injury forced him off the field in the 13th minute but still happens frequently in recent years, Atletico competed in battle.
“We know exactly what is at stake but we are Atletico Madrid, we do everything the hard way and it’s much better than this,” said the defender. Mario Hermoso.
Atletico created the first real chance as Carrasco penetrated the defence but Marcos Llorente unleashes his cross at the goalkeeper’s foot Diogo Costa.
Porto dominated the rest of the first half and the Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak make an excellent save to refuse Luis Diaz, while Llorente threw himself over the goal to block Mehdi Taremi reach the loose ball.
Taremi missed two clear opportunities early in the second half, hitting the bar long and then being denied by Oblak, before Griezmann gave Atleti the lead with a fearsome goal. Porto barely recovered from the shock of being lost and Marchesin was sent off from the stands as both sides struggled to keep their tempers in check.
“It was an unbelievable night,” Oblak said. “I’m sure a lot of people didn’t believe in us but it’s in games like this that we show what a real team we are.”
