CL: Atletico Madrid shock Barcelona to storm into semis

Madrid Atletico Madrid progressed to the semifinals of the Champions League for the first time in 40 years with a 10 win over Barcelona on Wednesday to seal a 21 aggregate victoryAtletico Madrids players celebrate after the UEFA Champions League quarter final football match Club Atletico de Madrid vs Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid PicAFPKoke put the hosts in front after just five minutes as he volleyed home Adrian Lopezs headed passAtletico also hit the woodwork three times in the firsthalf but were given a late scare as Neymar came within inches of taking the game to extra time when his header went just wideDefeat ends Barcelonas run of reaching six straight Champions League semifinalsThe atmosphere was amazing It didnt affect Barca because they are used to those atmospheres but it did influence our players It gave us great positive energy said Atletico boss Diego SimeoneWe maintain the same humility we understand that the other teams in the semifinals have been there far more than Atletico MadridWe are there 40 years later and we believe in what we are doing We want to continue being competitive as was our intention at the startBarcelona captain Xavi said his side had done everything they could to break down Atleticos defensive wall and deserved to at least take the game to extratimeWe had four or five clear chances he saidThey took advantage of the opening few minutes they had We showed heart and we deserved a drawDespite missing topscorer Diego Costa through injury Atletico made an incredibly fastpaced start and were ahead within five minutesAdrian who was only starting due to Costas absence smashed a shot off the post and when David Villa collected the loose ball his cross was headed by Adrian into the path of Koke to volley homeVilla should then have doubled Atleticos advantage as he burst onto Kokes through ball and struck the post with just Jose Manuel Pinto to beatLionel Messi then had Barcas first clear opening when he headed Dani Alves cross inches wideHowever Atletico were soon back on the front foot and Villa was again denied by the woodwork against his old side on 19 minutes when he volleyed Raul Garcias flickon against the barBarca managed to stem the Atletico tide somewhat as the firsthalf developed and Messi fired another decent opening wide after sensational skill by Neymar took him past three Atletico playersBoth sides had penalty shouts waved away just before halftime as Koke went down under pressure from Javier Mascherano before Cesc Fabregas claimed he had been caught by Diego Godin but on both occasions English referee Howard Webb was unimpressedThe roles were reversed at the start of the secondhalf as Barca pressed in search of the precious away goal that would bring them back into the tieNeymar was played in by a fine through ball by Xavi but Thibaut Courtois did enough to force the Brazilian wide before Xavi somehow was unable to bundle home Dani Alves cross from the reboundXavi came close again on the hour mark as this time he headed an Alves cross just past the far postBoth coaches then made their first changes as Alexis Sanchez replaced Fabregas and Diego Ribas was introduced for AdrianAnd it was the Atletico man whose wonder strike put Los Rojiblancos in front in the first leg who nearly made an immediate impact as his drive from a narrow angle was beaten away by PintoThe Barca reserve keeper then made a vital save with his outstretched leg to prevent Gabi sealing the tie as he bore down on goalAndres Iniesta was surprisingly replaced by Pedro Rodriguez but even without their creative fulcrum Barca nearly found a way through when Neymars diving header flew inches past 12 minutes from timePinto made another fine save to prevent Cristian Rodriguez rounding off a famous night for Atletico in style in the final minuteHowever it made no difference to the final result as the final whistle was greeted with a huge roar by the home fans