Real ‘suffer’ then celebrate spot in final
Defending champion Real Madrid withstood an early onslaught by Atletico Madrid to reach a third Champions League final in four years despite a 2-1 loss to their city rival.
Atletico, who trailed 3-0 after the first leg, scored twice in the first 16 minutes at the Vicente Calderon Stadium to move within a goal of sending the semifinal second leg into extra time.
But Francisco ‘‘Isco’’ Alarcon netted a crucial away goal for Real Madrid before halftime to secure a 4-2 victory on aggregate and a spot in the final against Juventus on June 3 in Cardiff.
‘‘We knew we were going to suffer but we are extremely happy to have made it to the final,’’ Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said.
Madrid will try to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since the competition’s new format was created in 1992. Madrid will be the first team to have a chance to defend thjeir title since Manchester United made it to consecutive finals in 2008-09.
Atletico end their Champions League campaign without a shot at the title and with its fourth straight elimination to its powerful Spanish rival. Madrid defeated Atletico in the final last year and in 2014, and also eliminated the crosstown opponent in the quarterfinals in 2015.
Atletico kept their hopes alive by scoring two early goals to ignite the crowd at the packed Calderon.
Saul Niguez netted the first goal with a header off a corner in the 12th minute, and Antoine Griezmann added to the lead four minutes later by converting a penalty kick after Fernando Torres was fouled by defender Raphael Varane inside the area.
The goals left Atletico only one away from sending the match into extra time, but Diego Simeone’s team was not able to keep pressuring as it did in earlier in the game.
The match was even when Karim Benzema came up with a spectacular move to set up Isco’s goal. The French striker was surrounded by three Atletico defenders but found a way to get past all of them with a pair of quick touches. He sped into the area and sent a pass to Toni Kroos, whose shot was initially saved by goalkeeper Jan Oblak, but Isco picked up the rebound to score from close range.