MADRID, SPAIN – APRIL 13: Antoine Griezmann of Atletico de Madrid scores their opening goal during the UEFA Champions League quarter final, second leg match between Club Atletico de Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Vincente Calderon on April 13, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)

Champions League: Atletico Madrid stuns Barcelona; Bayern Munich moves on

If someone offered Luis Enrique 77 percent possession and 13 shots for his Barcelona side before the Champions League quarterfinal match at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday, he would have happily accepted.

The heart and hustle of Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side is harder to measure on the stat sheet, but both showed up in spades on the scoreboard as the home side got two goals from Antoine Griezmann to take a stunning 2-0 win.

The loss bounces the defending champions out of the competition, which has not seen a repeat winner since AC Milan in 1989 and 1990.

Atletico joins Bayern Munich, who advanced past Benfica on aggregate, in the Champions League semifinals. Real Madrid and Manchester City booked places on Tuesday.

Simeone’s side stayed compact, pressured the ball all over the field and limited the chances for Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

It hasn’t been the best run of form for Barcelona, but this match was more about what Atletico did well rather than anything Barca may have done poorly.

In the 36th minute, Griezmann opened the scoring:

Things went from bad to worse in the 87th minute, when an Andres Iniesta handball in the box gifted Atletico a penalty. Griezmann coolly slotted it home to close the scoring:

Benfica 2, Bayern Munich 2

Mexican international Raul Jimenez gave the hosts early hope with a first-half goal, but Bayern Munich struck back with strikes from Arturo Vidal and Thomas Muller and eventually hung on for a 2-2 draw — which was good enough to take it through to the semifinals.

Jimenez got things rolling for the Portuguese side in the 27th minute:

Vidal thundered home a volley 10 minutes later to equalize for the Germans:

Just after halftime, Bayern climbed on top through a strike from Muller:

That put Bayern up 3-1 on aggregate and effectively ended the tie. Benfica wasn’t deterred, however, pulling one back on a superbly struck free kick by Talisca:

There would be no more scoring, however, securing Bayern’s spot in Friday’s semifinal draw.

About Randy Capps

South Carolina native, Fulham apologist, writer and sports fanatic.

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