FC Porto have been eliminated from the Champions League after losing 3-1 at home to Atlético Madrid on a tempestuous night of football, with both sides reduced to ten men.
Porto started the night knowing a win would guarantee qualification but a draw may be enough to make progress (as turned out to be the case with AC Milan losing to Liverpool).
But two late goals from Argentine duo Angel Correa and Rodrigo de Paul, on top of Antoine Griezmann’s opener, set Atlético on their way through at the Estádio do Dragão, as unsavoury scenes saw both teams end the game with a red card apiece.
Under more relaxed circumstances, the already-qualified Sporting were again unravelled by a group-topping Ajax side, the hosts cruising through with a 4-2 victory in Amsterdam.
FC Porto 1-3 Atlético Madrid
It was D Day in the city of Porto as both the hosts and Atlético Madrid, alongside AC Milan, looked to join Liverpool and squeeze through into the next round of the Champions League.
After both teams had missed chances, the Spaniards scored the first goal of the night in the 56th minute, Griezmann lurking in the right place to tuck in from a corner, before an incident on the touchline involving Otávio and Yannick Carrasco offered Porto a lifeline with a red card for the latter.
Porto’s night was flipped on it’s head, however, no more than three minutes later, in the 70th minute, following Wendell’s dismissal for a similar offence.
Diego Simeone’s men landed two killer blows in stoppage time with goals from Correa and De Paul, moments before Sérgio Oliveira’s consolation goal from the penalty spot, seeing Porto out and into the Europa League as Milan proceeded to lose 2-1 at home to Liverpool.
Ajax 4-2 Sporting
With both sides already qualified and in the pot for the Last 16 draw, Sporting chopped and changed their regular XI to field some fringe players away to Ajax, who stuck by most of their bigger names.
A Sebastian Haller penalty, on the scoresheet in each and every group game, gave Erik Ten Haag’s men the lead before Nuno Santos made it 1-1 later in the first period.
Antony pulled Ajax back in front just before the break, which led to further troubles for Sporting who, before they knew it, were fighting back from a 4-1 deficit after second-half goals from David Neres and Steven Berghuis.
Bruno Tabata made the scoreline a little more respectable for a very youthful-looking Sporting XI, who conceded defeat at 4-2 in Amsterdam.
By Patrick Ribeiro
