For the second time in three seasons, Atletico Madrid is headed to the Champions League final.

After knocking out Barcelona in the quarterfinals, the Mattress Makers bounced another tournament favorite in Bayern Munich from the semis with a 2-1 loss in Bavaria on Tuesday – which conspired with Atleti's 1-0 home win last week to give it the razor-thin win on aggregate away goals. Both teams missed a penalty kick, but Antoine Griezmann's second-half breakaway goal was enough to cancel out Xabi Alonso's first-half free kick and a 74th-minute Robert Lewandowski header.

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And so Pep Guardiola, the most feted and laureled manager of his era, will leave Germany without an appearance in the final of the biggest tournament in the club game. All three of his Champions League campaigns with Bayern stranded in the semifinals, begging the question whether his time there was a failure, in spite of what will likely be back-to-back-to-back league titles. His predecessor Jupp Heynckes did win the treble in his final year, after all, after he was pre-fired to make room for Guardiola no less.

So perhaps this was the game where Diego Simeone took on the mantle of most respected manager in the sport. Because after his miraculous La Liga win with perpetually underappreciated Atletico in 2014, when he also lost the Champions League final to cross-town rivals Real Madrid, he has Atleti at the summit of the continent yet again. In spite of their inferior financial machinery and lack of glamor and relative pedigree. In spite of the bunker-and-counter mentality that has forged one of the best defenses in the game's history but is also completely out of step with the game's zeitgeist.

As often against strong opponents, Atletico showed no interest in the ball whatsoever, sitting deep and keeping its banks of defensive lines tight. It was one-way traffic.

Bayern forged a first chance in the 20th minute, when Jerome Boateng dropped a ball over the top for Thomas Muller, who settled and laid it off for Lewandowski with a single touch, but Atletico's heroic goalkeeper Jan Oblak smothered the Pole's angles and blocked the shot.

Then a long, swerving Franck Ribery shot made Oblak uncomfortable. He couldn't push it far enough away, but the goalie pounced on Lewandowski, who couldn't direct the rebound on goal.

The Bavarians pressed on and broke through after half an hour. Xabi Alonso snuck a free kick through Jose Maria Gimenez's legs, taking just enough of a deflection to beat Oblak.

A few minutes later, it seemed like Bayern had the all-important, go-ahead goal against its ultra-defensive guests. Gimenez brought down Javi Martinez on a corner with an arm bar. But Oblak saved Muller's penalty kick.

Reflecting the stakes, things got testy on the sidelines as well.

But some 10 minutes after the break, Atletico got its goal. Fernando Torres liberated Griezmann on the break – the Frenchman stayed no more than an inch onside, if he stayed on at all – and the diminutive forward beat Manuel Neuer one-on-one.

In the 74th, however, Arturo Vidal headed a cross back across goal for Lewandowski, who had a simple header to bring the semifinal tie within a goal.

It all seemed to slip away from Bayern late on, when Martinez scythed Torres down a few blades of grass outside the box, but the referee pointed to the spot anyway. Neuer, however, saved Torres' penalty to keep his team alive.

It wasn't enough though, for all of Bayern's last-breath efforts.

This time there would be no late, great comeback for Bayern like there was against Juventus in the round of 16. There would be nothing at all in Europe for Bayern this season. Or for Guardiola.

Simeone's legend, meanwhile, continues to grow larger.

Leander Schaerlaeckens is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @LeanderAlphabet.