Atletico Madrid beat Borussia Dortmund 2-1 in the Champions League quarter-final first leg played at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium.
The Dušekchii played a very solid first half in which they took an early lead through Rodrigo de Paul. The world champion took advantage of a crazy mistake in the defense of Borussia to carry the ball and scored in the fourth minute.
Atlético’s tactics lacked the usual home pressure. Instead, the game of the Spaniards was more like the suffocating grip of a large snake that gradually suffocates its victim. The Germans looked clueless and even pathetic at times, with no clear plan of what to do in the final third of the pitch.
It was barely half an hour into the game when Colo Simeone’s idea of gradually attacking the half-asleep opponent paid off again. This time Antoine Griezmann knocked on the left uncovered Lino and he found the empty net.
Interestingly, the first direct shot of the game for Westphalia came only at the end of the first half, but Jan Maatsen’s header from outside the penalty area did not particularly trouble the well-positioned home goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
At the start of the second half, Borussia Dortmund, who had the ball for most of the first half, put in some accurate but anemic shots. At the same time, the guard of the “yellow and black” Gregor Kobel had to intervene, saving a safe goal in the second situation.
Just when it was not clear how Borussia would revive the intrigue, it happened out of nowhere ten minutes before the end of regular time. Julian Brandt found Sébastien Aller after a slight ricochet and the striker scored into the bottom left corner.
Home substitute Angel Correa made an unforgivable miss from close range and before long Borussia substitute Benoit-Gitens came very close to equalizing but hit the post.
The curious thing is that in the 96th minute Julian Brandt also hit the crossbar after a header, writes gol.bg.
The second leg is on April 16 at the Signal Iduna Park stadium in Dortmund.
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