Koke’s early goal guides Atletico past Barcelona 1-0 into Champions League semifinals

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Barcelona\'s Neymar, left, fights for the ball with Atletico\'s Juanfran during the Champions League quarterfinal second leg soccer match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona in the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, April 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Paul White)

MADRID – Koke’s early goal guided Atletico Madrid to a 1-0 win against Barcelona and into the Champions League semifinals with a 2-1 aggregate victory.

Adrian Lopez filled in for injured striker Diego Costa and created the fifth-minute opener after finding the post, as the Atletico forward headed an ensuing cross on to Koke to fire home.

The boisterous atmosphere at the Vicente Calderon Stadium unsettled Barcelona early on, and Atletico striker David Villa hit the woodwork twice within the opening 20 minutes.

Barcelona dug in but produced few tangible scoring chances apart from a pair of first-half misses by Lionel Messi.

Atletico, which leads Barcelona by one point in the Spanish league, reached the last four of Europe’s top competition for the first time since 1974.

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