Atlético Madrid advanced to the last eight of the Champions League – but only after a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over brave Bayer Leverkusen.
Diego Simeone’s side were trailing 1-0 from the first-leg in Germany but a first-half strike from Mario Suarez – Atlético’s first goal in three matches – levelled the scores.
After an excellent showing from the home side in the first period, Roger Schmidt’s side took the sting out of Atlético’s offense and limited their opportunities in the second-half.
The best opportunity fell to substitute Raul Garcia on 69 minutes but he was denied from close range by the impressive Bernd Leno in the visiting goal.
Extra-time was inevitable and the final half hour was played in scrappy fashion with neither side able to create any chances of note.
The shoot-out proved much more interesting with the first two penalties being missed by Raul Garcia and Hakan Calhanoglu respectively.
Both sides composed themselves and the spot-kicks improved with Atlético taking a 3-2 lead, putting the pressure on Bayer’s Stefan Kiessling who needed to score to keep his side in the contest but the substitute smashed his effort over the bar.