Underdogs upset the favorites in a stunning quarterfinal night

It was supposed to be a procession. Instead it became a rebellion. The favorites arrived with a two-goal cushion and left with a story they will be asked to explain for years.

For an hour the script held. The visitors controlled possession, recycled patiently through midfield, and looked content to manage the tie into extra time without ever truly threatening.

Then came the change. A switch of shape at the hour mark — a back three, a high press, two strikers pinning the center-backs — turned the match into something the favorites had not prepared for.

The first goal arrived inside four minutes of the change, a simple ball over the top exploiting a defender suddenly playing without cover. The second came in a blur of bodies, a corner half-cleared and hammered home from the edge of the box.

By the time the visitors steadied themselves the tie was level on aggregate and the stadium was a wall of sound. Substitutes warmed up frantically along the touchline. Nothing seemed to settle the storm.

Extra time was almost a formality. The home side, sensing it, pushed numbers forward with a confidence that bordered on arrogance, and a 112th-minute header from a set piece sealed the upset.

The semifinal draw now opens up dramatically. The bracket's favorite is gone, the road is clearer than anyone expected, and a club that began the tournament as a footnote suddenly has a real path.

Ask the coach how it happened and he shrugs. "We changed the picture," he said. "They didn't redraw it in time."