Atletico Madrid reach Champions League final

Atletico Madrid advanced to the final of the Uefa Champions League on Tuesday night following a 2-1 defeat against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena.

Diego Simeone has led Atletico Madrid to their second Uefa Champions League final in three seasons. Reuters

The Spaniards progressed to the showdown in Milan on 28 May on the away goals rule. They won the first leg of the semi-final 1-0 at the Vicente Calderon in Madrid last week.

Atletico were the beaten finalists in 2014 when they went down 4-1 to their city rivals Real Madrid. And there could be a repeat of that final as Real play Manchester City on Wednesday night in the second semi-final.

In the aftermath of victory, Atletico coach Diego Simeone said he wanted to concentrate on lauding his players rather than stoking the desire to avenge defeat.

"I really have to say we played against the best team I have faced in my whole career, it was unbelievable how Bayern played," said Simeone. "It was great to see my team play with such intensity. We coped with the pressure they put on us in the second half."

Xabi Alonso scored from a free kick after 31 minutes to level the scores on aggregate. Three minutes later Bayern were awarded a penalty. However, Thomas Mueller's kick was saved by the Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.

Nine minutes into the second half, Bayern were made to pay for their inaccuracy when Antoine Griezmann equalised. That strike put Atletico 2-1 up on aggregate and though Robert Lewandowski restored Bayern's hopes with their second goal 16 minutes from time, they could not find the third goal despite Manuel Neuer keeping them in the tie by saving Fernando Torres's penalty after 84 minutes.

Bayern put Atletico under pressure

"We tried everything but unfortunately it wasn't enough," said Bayern skipper Philipp Lahm. "We failed to get the goals at the right time. It's a bitter result that we haven't been able to reward ourselves and the coaching staff for the work over the last three years."

"Football is sometimes so extreme," added Mueller. "We did a lot right and only a few things wrong. Unfortunately it wasn't enough. I haven't experienced many nights like this here, the sting goes very deep."

Torres was part of the Chelsea side that beat Bayern on penalties at the Allianz Arena to claim the 2012 Champions League. The 32-year-old Spaniard said Atletico had proved their mettle by overcoming the champions of the Netherlands, Spain and Germany to reach the final.

"It was very intense and I'm so proud of this team," he said. "When you play against a side like Bayern, you can't play the game you want. They created a lot of chances and put us under a lot of pressure.

"It's fully deserved. The most important thing is we're in the final and the opponent is irrelevant."