Atletico into last eight after Bayer stalemate

Atletico Madrid reached the Champions League quarter-finals for a fourth straight season, holding Bayer Leverkusen to a goalless draw at the Vicente Calderon to win 4-2 on aggregate.

Last season’s runnersup therefore became the third Spanish side into the last eight, along with Barcelona and holders Real Madrid, giving La Liga the most teams in tomorrow’s draw.

In an entertaining contest, Leverkusen created good chances, several for ex-manchester United forward Javier Hernandez but, when they hit the target, they found keeper Jan Oblak in unbeatable form, including making a scarcely-believable triple save. Bernd Leno also pulled off some stunning stops.

The Vicente Calderon, where Diego Simeone’s side have a formidable European record, will therefore host at least one more Champions League tie before Atletico move to a new ground.

The visitors had changed manager since the first leg, Tayfun Korkut replacing Roger Schmidt, who was sacked after a 6-2 loss at Borussia Dortmund.

Simeone had Fernando Torres available for the first time since the former Liverpool and Chelsea striker suffered a head injury that saw him lose consciousness against Deportivo La Coruna on 2 March.

Torres was an unused substitute after returning to full training on Monday.