Champions League Results 2016: Qualified Teams After Wednesday Quarter-Finals
Barcelona's Champions League title defence came crashing down on Wednesday evening after the titleholders suffered a 1-0 defeat at Atletico Madrid in their quarter-final second-leg clash to draw 2-2 on aggregate, losing out on away goals.
Bayern Munich will join Atletico in the semi-finals after they booked a 2-2 draw at Benfica to win their quarter-final 3-2 on aggregate and seal a fifth consecutive appearance in the Champions League's last four.
Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar were nullified in Madrid as Atleti's strategic defence saw them mute the Blaugrana's boisterous trio, while Bayern were almost rumbled in their trip to Lisbon, Portugal.
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Read on for recap of Wednesday's results as another enthralling Champions League campaign ticks toward its penultimate phase.
| Atletico Madrid | 2-0 (3-2) | Barcelona |
| Benfica | 2-2 (2-3) | Bayern Munich |
| Real Madrid | 27th |
| Manchester City | 1st |
| Atletico Madrid | 5th |
| Bayern Munich | 18th |
Atletico Madrid 2-0 Barcelona (Agg. 3-2)
Another game, another 90 minutes spent waiting on Messi to score his 500th career goal after some heroic strategy at the Vicente Calderon almost took him out of the game on Wednesday evening.
The astonishing talents of Antoine Griezmann, who opened the scoring after 36 minutes by heading in a terrific outside-of-the-boot cross from Saul Niguez, played their part, shown courtesy of BT Sport:
Saul was one of the more effective attackers among Atleti's ranks and rattled the post with a header early in the second half, but it wasn't until the 88th minute the hosts finally clinched their sought-after second.
Andres Iniesta handled the ball in the box, attempting to prevent a late second for the hosts, with Griezmann stepping up to seal a 3-2 aggregate victory and leaving Ben McAleer of WhoScored.com in awe of Atletico's defensive nous:
Los Rojiblancos have managed to claw Barcelona's La Liga lead down to just three points, and now the Madrid representatives can claim to be a bane on the Blaugrana's European success too.
Fans may rightly smack their lips at the prospect of a Madrid derby in the next phase of the competition—or better yet, a repeat of the 2013-14 Spanish derby crescendo.
Benfica 2-2 Bayern Munich (Agg. 2-3)
Bayern Munich advanced despite a small scare in their journey to Lisbon on Wednesday, where it was the Eagles who opened the scoring through Raul Jimenez before Arturo Vidal's equaliser just 10 minutes later.
Unfortunately for the hosts, their defence couldn't match the quality of their attack, and Javi Martinez headed back across goal from a Xabi Alonso corner for Thomas Muller to advance his prolific European record, per Unibet:
That goal steered the Germans back into a 3-1 aggregate lead and meant Benfica would have to score three more goals if they wanted to make it into the semis—a daunting task to say the least.
It may not have altered the landscape much, but even the official Bayern Munich Twitter account couldn't help but admire Talisca's pinpoint free-kick in the 76th minute to level the scores at 2-2 on the night:
Outbound manager Pep Guardiola is hoping to sign off his Bayern career with a clean sweep of trophy triumphs, but he'll know there were moments of weakness against Benfica other teams won't forgive.
There's a chance the Spanish mastermind could come up against future employers Manchester City in the next round, but we're assured of a mouthwatering schedule regardless of who draws whom.
