Madrid, April 23 (IANS): A late goal from Real Madrid striker Javier Hernandez qualified Real Madrid for the semifinal of the Champions League as they defeated neighbours Atletico 1-0 in th second leg of the tie.
Courtesy of the Hernandez's goal, Real Madrid won the tie 1-0 on aggregate on Wednesday.
The Mexican striker, who was only playing because forward Karim Benzema was injured, sidefooted home from close range after being set up by striker Cristiano Ronaldo with less than four minute before the game went into extra time, reports Xinhua.
The goal was deserved by Real Madrid, who defeated Atletico for the first time in eight meetings this season, but who dominated the proceedings over the 180 minutes of the tie.
Both coaches had surprises in their starting 11 with Real boss Carlo Ancelotti playing Rafael Varane and Pepe in central defence and pushing Sergio Ramos into midfield in preference to specialist midfielders such as Asier Illaramendi and Lucas Silva.
That meant Ancelotti changed his usual tactic of playing 4-3-3 for a 4-4-2 to try and outnumber Atletico in the middle of the pitch, while Saul instead of Gabi Fernandez was Atletico coach Diego Simeone's surprise choice.
The first half saw Real dominate the ball against a rival that had striker Mario Mandzukic isolated in attack and Hernandez had their first decent chance after 11 minutes, but screwed the ball into the side netting.
Overall, though Atletico kept Real at bay and until Ronaldo saw a close range shot saved by the impressive goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the last minute of the half, Real were limited to free kicks from James Rodriguez and Ronaldo.
Atletico's only threat in the half came from long throws from left back Jesus Gamez and with Saul disappointing Gabi replaced him for the second half.
Hernandez wasted another chance for Real Madrid three minutes after the break, firing agonisingly wide after midfielder Isco produced practically the first defence-splitting pass of the match.
Overall the script was similar to the first half with Real creating slightly more in a scrappy affair and Atletico looking to set pieces and perhaps for that Simeone introduced midfielder Raul Garcia for striker Antonio Griezmann to give his side more of an aerial threat.
Koke headed straight at goalkeeper Iker Casillas with Mandzukic unmarked behind him, while Ronaldo shot at Oblak, but the game changed after 75 minutes when midfielder Arda Turan was shown a second yellow card for a high challenge against Ramos to leave Atletico down to 10 men.
Real took a step forward and Oblak produced a brilliant save to deny Hernandez with 10 minutes remaining, but he could do nothing to deny the Mexican seven minutes later as the fringe player became the hero of the night.