Diego Simeone's side failed to score in the two legs against PSV Eindhoven and needed penalties to prevail on Tuesday, but the Rojiblancos are a rival to avoid in the last eight
Atletico are among Europe's eight best teams for a third season in a row. The Rojiblancos found it incredibly tough against a stubborn PSV Eindhoven side over two legs, but eventually made it through on Tuesday. Now, neither Real Madrid or Barcelona will want to meet them in the quarter-finals.
Barca are still not through to the last eight, but Luis Enrique's side hold a commanding 2-0 lead ahead of Wednesday's second leg against Arsenal at Camp Nou. So the holders will almost certainly be in Friday's draw along with Wolfsburg, Real Madrid, Benfica, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City and either Bayern Munich or Juventus.
And Atletico. Diego Simeone's side were unable to take their chances in the first leg at PSV and it was a similar story in this one, but built in the ultra-competitive and intense image of their coach, they kept fighting right until the end and ultimately came out on top as Juanfran hit home the decisive penalty in the shootout.
When he signed a new long-term deal to commit to Atletico until 2020 last year, Simeone said he had two objectives for the club in the coming campaigns: to establish the team in Spain's top three and to consistently make it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
FULL STORY | Juanfran sends Atletico through on penalties
Both of those aims are being achieved. But having seen their team win La Liga in 2013-14 and come within a whisker of Champions League glory that same season as they lost out to Madrid in the final in Lisbon, Atletico's fans want more than that.
So too, of course, does Simeone - even though he will not say so publicly. The Argentine has made Atletico an awkward rival, defensively solid, competitive at all times, uncomfortable for other teams to face and extremely difficult to break down.
"For us it is a symbol of joy to be in the quarter-finals again," he said after this success. "We are going to keep competing and go in search of new dreams."
Atletico are not among the favourites to win the continental competition and their flaws in terms of creating chances and converting them were all apparent again on Tuesday after they had netted nine times in their last three games. Nevertheless, nobody will want to face the Rojiblancos in the last eight.
Madrid defender Alvaro Arbeloa summed up what most other sides may be thinking as he said on Sunday: "For the rest of the teams, it would be good if Atletico were knocked out in the last 16."
Real lost the derby at home to Atleti recently and have now beaten Simeone's side only once in 10 games. So it is understandable that they would want to avoid their city rivals in the next round.
Barca, meanwhile, appear to have the measure of the Rojiblancos recently, winning all six matches against Atleti since the arrival of Luis Enrique as coach. Both meetings this term have been tight encounters, however, and last season's treble winners would rather face several others ahead of Simeone's side over two legs.
In the meantime, Atletico will keep competing and look to improve in front of goal at this level. And although Tuesday night's display showed that they are nowhere near perfect, the fact that nobody wants to play the Rojiblancos is a great compliment to Simeone's work and also a sign of just how this team has come in the past few seasons. The European dream lives on.
- Goal