Atletico survive scare at Tottenham to reach quarter-finals

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Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Round 16 - Second Leg - Tottenham Hotspur v Atletico Madrid - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - March 18, 2026 Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez celebrates scoring their first goal with Marcos Llorente REUTERS/David Klein
Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Round 16 - Second Leg - Tottenham Hotspur v Atletico Madrid - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - March 18, 2026 Atletico Madrid's David Hancko celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Round 16 - Second Leg - Tottenham Hotspur v Atletico Madrid - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - March 18, 2026 Atletico Madrid's Julian Alvarez scores their first goal REUTERS/David Klein
Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Round 16 - Second Leg - Tottenham Hotspur v Atletico Madrid - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - March 18, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur's Xavi Simons celebrates scoring their third goal Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs
Soccer Football - UEFA Champions League - Round 16 - Second Leg - Tottenham Hotspur v Atletico Madrid - Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, Britain - March 18, 2026 Tottenham Hotspur's Guglielmo Vicario and Djed Spence look dejected after the match REUTERS/David Klein

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LONDON, March 18 : Atletico Madrid withstood a rousing Tottenham Hotspur fightback to reach the Champions League quarter-final with a 7-5 aggregate victory despite a 3-2 loss in north London on Wednesday.

Diego Simeone's side, who scored four times in the opening 22 minutes in last week's 5-2 first leg home romp, wobbled under a Spurs onslaught but goals by Julian Alvarez and David Hancko gave them some breathing space.

Randal Kolo Muani's header gave Tottenham a halftime lead and fuelled hopes of a great escape.

Alvarez rifled in an equaliser shortly after halftime but when Xavi Simons restored Tottenham's lead with a curled effort soon after, hope was restored for the hosts.

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Atletico keeper Juan Musso made some crucial saves as Tottenham poured forward but Hancko's near-post header stopped them in their tracks.

A 90th-minute penalty tucked away by Simons in the 90th minute came too late but it at least provided a morale-boost for Tottenham as they now focus on avoiding relegation from the Premier League.

Atletico go forward to a quarter-final against Barcelona.

Source: Reuters

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