Jan Oblak was happy to be the hero as Atletico Madrid booked their place in the Champions League quarter-finals at Inter Milan’s expense.
Goals from Antoine Griezmann and Memphis Depay cancelled out Federico Dimarco’s opener to level the last-16 tie on aggregate before Oblak settled matters by saving twice in a penalty shootout.
The 31-year-old could not hide his smile as he reflected on a dramatic night in the Spanish capital.
Speaking to TNT Sports, he said: “A wonderful night. It is always nice when you win and progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League so I am very happy for the team.
“In the last month we have not been in good shape but today we showed we can do much more.
“I hope we can continue like that.”
Diego Simeone’s side have struggled away from home this season and headed into the second leg 1-0 down.
But Oblak is expecting the performances on enemy territory to improve if they are to compete in the latter stages of the competition.
He added: “Nobody understands it. I don’t know why we are like that but we need to change it. You cannot just play home games.
“In away games we lose a lot of points in LaLiga and in the Champions League we lost against Inter but we believe at home we can win.
“I think the penalties are a lottery because you can see all the videos and do all the preparation but many times players change their mind and I do too.
“Luckily today I stopped two and I am happy about that.
“It is not easy to stop a penalty. It may look it from the outside but it’s not so easy because the goal is so big and sometimes it doesn’t matter if you go to the right side.”
