{"id":82815,"date":"2015-01-16T07:57:34","date_gmt":"2015-01-16T07:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=82815"},"modified":"2015-01-16T09:08:03","modified_gmt":"2015-01-16T09:08:03","slug":"torres-scores-twice-as-atletico-knock-out-real-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=82815","title":{"rendered":"Torres scores twice as Atletico knock out Real Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fernando Torres struck his first goals since returning to Atletico Madrid, firing a brace in a 4-2 Copa del Rey aggregate win over holders Real Madrid.<\/p>\n

Atletico led 2-0 from the first leg and Torres stunned the Bernabeu, smashing in left-footed after 49 seconds.<\/p>\n

Sergio Ramos’s header levelled but, in the first minute of the second half, Torres beat Pepe to slide in a second.<\/p>\n

Real needed three goals to win after Cristiano Ronaldo’s header but Atleti will meet Barcelona in the last eight.<\/p>\n

Barca cruised to a 9-0 aggregate win over Elche, but for Atleti, the last-16 stage provided a stiffer test and significant bragging rights.<\/p>\n

The La Liga champions inflicted a first domestic cup defeat on Carlo Ancelotti since he arrived to manage their city rivals in 2013.<\/p>\n

Los Rojiblancos can also boast being five games unbeaten against Real this season, a record which looked certain to continue after less than a minute’s play in the Spanish capital.<\/p>\n

\"Cristiano<\/p>\n

Cristiano Ronaldo paraded his Ballon d’Or award moments before kick-off but Fernando Torres scored quickly to change the mood<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Soon after Ronaldo stopped parading his Fifa Ballon d’Or award moments before kick-off, Torres plundered the opener, sweeping into the top corner from 10 yards with a first-time shot following Antoine Griezmann’s cross.<\/p>\n

Torres, who left Atleti in 2007, had never scored at the Bernabeu with his boyhood club but, in for the unwell Mario Mandzukic, he left Real needing four goals to progress.<\/p>\n

Ramos netted a last-minute leveller which spurred Real on to a 4-1 extra-time win over Atletico in last season’s Champions League final and he was in the right place when goalkeeper Jan Oblak – making just his fifth appearance – flapped at a set-piece delivery.<\/p>\n

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Fernando Torres: Huge welcome on return to Atletico Madrid<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Swarms of white shirts peppered the visitors’ area and Ronaldo’s goal-bound strike was only kept out by Mario Suarez on the goal-line as Real dominated with 76% of possession in the opening half.<\/p>\n

But Diego Simeone’s side only had 27% of the ball in the first leg and they again demonstrated the resilience he has instilled in them since taking over in December 2011.<\/p>\n

The Argentine has delivered successive league finishes of fifth, third and first along with Europa League success in 2012 and a Copa del Rey triumph in 2013.<\/p>\n

In Europa League, Champions League and Copa del Rey fixtures, he now has 16 successes from 18 two-legged ties and Torres’s second came at the perfect time, killing Real’s second-half hope.<\/p>\n

He again collected a Griezmann pass before wrong-footing Pepe to fire under home keeper Keylor Navas.<\/p>\n

Ronaldo – voted the greatest player in Portugal’s history on Wednesday –<\/span>\u00a0<\/span> headed in from six yards to reduce the arrears on 54 minutes before Torres was substituted to jeers from the home fans.<\/p>\n

Karim Benzema could not turn their frustration to hope when he fired over from four yards as La Liga leaders Real relinquished their hold on Spain’s coveted domestic cup.<\/p>\n

\"Real<\/p>\n

The Real Madrid team bus arrived amid passionate and colourful scenes at the Santiago Bernabeu<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Fernando<\/p>\n

Torres finished with a first-time volley and saluted visiting fans sat high in the Bernabeu stands<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Sergio<\/p>\n

Sergio Ramos scored his fifth club goal of the season as Real mounted heavy pressure following the opening goal<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"Atletico<\/p>\n

Fernando Torres was mobbed by Atletico’s players when he netted a second less than a minute after the interval<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fernando Torres struck his first goals since returning to Atletico Madrid, firing a brace in a 4-2 Copa del Rey aggregate win over holders Real Madrid. Atletico led 2-0 from the first leg and Torres stunned the Bernabeu, smashing in left-footed after 49 seconds. Sergio Ramos’s header levelled but, in the first minute of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[29,3],"class_list":["post-82815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-dr-mahamudu-bawumia","tag-ghana-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=82815"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82815\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=82815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=82815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=82815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}