Ronaldo put Madrid level at 2-2 on the night in the first period of extra time when he scored his 100th Champions League goal, from a clearly offside position, before he wrapped up his treble and Marco Asensio added a fourth.
Leicester City’s Champions League adventure ended on a disappointing note at the quarter-final stage despite giving a tough fight to Atletico Madrid. The starting XIs of the four quarter-finalists on Tuesday evening shared a total of 1,889 previous starts in the competition; Leicester accounted for 90.
Leicester were the lowest scoring side left in the competition but entered the clash knowing they had to score at least once to have any chance of progressing.
Vardy had a flick comfortably saved by Oblak and Mahrez whipped a free kick from 20 yards just over the crossbar, but Leicester still could not find another way through a packed Atletico backline. “Not in my lifetime”.
Leicester’s memorable Champions League run is over after Atletico Madrid beat them 2-1 on aggregate. We made a tactical change with Leo [Leonardo Ulloa] on to give an aerial threat.
Leicester’s forward line utilised a high press strategy.
Shakespeare also said he would welcome any early talks about his future with his short-term contract as manager expiring in June. At the end of last season, Atletico were the second best club in Europe according to UEFA’s own coefficient. But they should want more of this. This season is ending with a more modest target: Survival.
Two years ago, they were relegation battlers.
Champions League fixtures can often get ugly for fans as some get carried away and show hostility to away fans but the video below is proof of how football can throw up some lovely moments between rival fans as well.
Far more so in the second half after a tactical switch from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2 by Shakespeare, who has spent two months as the temporary replacement for Claudio Ranieri, the architect of last year’s Premier League title triumph who was sacked in February.
Shortly after Griezmann’s electrifying run nearly brought a second for the Spaniards, Leicester got their lifeline.
“You’ve got to be careful that you don’t get too carried away in football”.
“We have now got five days to recover and rest”.
“The here and now is the important bit and Arsenal, a week on Wednesday, is the next game”. He was 50-50 and it was more or less in the last three days when he was included in training.
2015-16 was their season and they would not swap anything for that.
A lively atmosphere greeted the teams before kick-off as the King Power got set for a massive European night.
It all sounds a far cry from the dizzy feats of last season.