Three red cards, on-field brawls, countless chances and a flurry of late goals. A wild, win-or-bust match in the Champions League between Porto and Atletico Madrid had it all.
In the end, it were Atletico celebrating a place in the last 16 of Europe's top club competition with a 3-1 win on Tuesday, emerging from a three-way fight for qualification in the final round of group games.
Porto started the night in second place, a point ahead of Atletico and AC Milan, who hosted Liverpool.
Milan wound up losing 2-1, meaning the winner of the all-Iberian match at the Estadio do Dragao would advance. It turned ugly, unsurprisingly given the stakes, with Porto having two players red-carded after Atletico had Yannick Carrasco sent off for swinging his arm around an opponent's neck.
Atletico was outplayed for much of the game but was opportunistic in front of goal, with Antoine Griezmann scoring the 56th-minute opener at a corner and both Angel Correa and Rodrigo De Paul adding breakaway goals after the 90th minute.
It sparked wild celebrations on the touchline by Atletico's famously passionate coach, Diego Simeone, and striker Luis Suarez, who was forced off injured after 13 minutes.
Porto earned the consolation of a third-place finish and a spot in the Europa League knockout playoffs.
With its victory, Liverpool became the first English team to win all six of its group games in a single Champions League campaign.
