Right, that’s it from me. Stick around on theguardian.com/football for further live coverage of the day’s other games in the Champions League. But for now, cheerio!
The pitch was a mitigating factor – it’s no surprise on that evidence that Astana haven’t been beaten there by any of their European visitors this season.
Peep! PEEP!! PEEEEEP!!! All over. A fine result for Astana in the end, though not a game that will live long in the memory. Or at all, in fact.
Updated
90+3 min: A final moment of panic for Astana, as Carrasco pivots and strikes goalwards from inside the box. Eric drops smarlt to save.
90+1 min: Three minutes of added time to play. Three minutes for Astana to survive in order to record quite a notable result, dodgy pitch or no dodgy pitch.
Updated
90 min: Beysebekov comes on to replace Dzholchiyev.
89 min: … Gabi’s corner is nodded clear.
88 min: … again Carrasco hits the first man but Griezmann shovels the ball back in and Shomko has to head away for a corner …
87 min: Martinez wins a dangerous free-kick on the Atleti left …
85 min: Carrasco and Griezmann combine neatly in the Astana box, but the latter’s backheel is just short of the former.
Updated
83 min: Godin glances a header wide when well placed. That was a decent chance.
82 min: Another substitution: Oliver Torres replaces Koke. Enlivening these glut of breaks in play are the blankets available to both benches. Reminiscent of these beauties.
81 min: Schtkin off, Kabananga off for Astana.
80 min: Atleti have improved greatly since the introduction of Carrasco. He sends a fizzing cross into the box that Astana do well to scramble clear.
78 min: Muzhikov is replaced by Zhukov for Astana.
Updated
77 min: Astana fail to clear a corner and Gimenez is allowed to head goalwards. His effort is straight at Eric.
75 min: Atletico hit the bar once more, this time thanks to a looping overhit cross from Carrasco.
74 min: Best moment of the second-half for either side. A sweet interchange of passes puts Griezmann through in the left channel but he drags his shot narrowly wide of the far post.
72 min: Atletico make another change – Yannick Carrasco replaces Saul Niguez.
70 min: 20 minutes to go and there’s not really been an incident of any note in this second half.
Updated
68 min: Another long throw, another headed clearance, another shot well wide from Astana.
Updated
66 min: Canas bundles Koke over in the middle of the park … and after a couple of hopeful headers Eric claims comfortably.
64 min: Fernando Torres is replaced by Jackson Martinez. To be fair to Torres, any one of the 10 outfield players was a candidate for the hook.
62 min: It’s getting a little bit tetchy now. Eric has a gentle coming together with Torres. He goes down holding his side in absolute agony, eyes closed, mouth wide open in a soundless scream of pain, there’s no way he’s going to be able to ca… oh wait, no he’s fine.
61 min: Tiago drags a shot wide from distance.
60 min: Yellow card for Dzholchiyev, who bundled into an Atleti player off the ball.
58 min: “There’s nothing worse than a nose bleed for Anicic,” intones David Pleat, who has either a) reason to believe the defender is a haemophobic or b) exaggerated a touch.
57 min: There’s a delay as Anicic gets treatment for a whack on the nose.
56 min: Godin nods an Atletico corner at goal but there’s no power behind it and Eric can gather with ease.
54 min: … it’s the best part of 40 yards out but Shomko looks to ping a shot at goal. He does so, but it’s well over the bar.
53 min: Foxi cleverly nods the ball away from Gimenez, who clatters into the Astana captain. A dangerous free-kick this …
51 min: Ilic catapults in a long throw, but Tiago is there to head away. If anything Astana have been the best side for the past half hour or so.
49 min: Both teams have spent the early stages of this half giving the ball to the other.
47 min: Shomko spanks an optimistic effort from distance – it’s straight at Oblak.
Peep! Off we go again.
Peep! Half-time.
45 min: Koke hits the bar! The midfielder whips in a free-kick from the edge of the box, Eric is beaten, but the ball boings away off the top of the bar. It was reminiscent of this (though Michael Tonge is clearly a better set-piece specialist than Koke):
44 min: The first booking of the game, Postnikov having his name taken for a pull on Torres.
43 min: Godin just does enough as Shonko bobbles a cross into the box.
42 min: Bee officially in bonnet. A close up of the surface at Astana Arena:
40 min: Foxi pings a shot at goal from 30 yards, with the ball sitting up nicely. It’s a decent effort but a good few yards over the bar.
39 min: Griezmann is caught offside on the Atletico left.
36 min: Atletico don’t look entirely comfortable with the surface to me. It’s worth noting that their three successful ties in the qualifying rounds were the result of wins in their home legs, and the only team to visit Astana Arena in the group stages thus far, Galatasaray, could only manage a 2-2 draw.
34 min: Foxi hoists a corner-kick straight into the hands of Oblak.
32 min: Chance for Torres! And he’s fluffed it! A cracking angled ball from Juanfran has Postnikov all at sea – the ball bounces through to the striker, who can only poke wide form eight yards out.
30 min: There’s a Mexican wave going around the stadium now (or, as they call it everywhere else, a wave). It’s often the sign of a drab game … and if it looks like a duck …
29 min: David Pleat goes up in everyone’s estimation by having a dig at the dreaded England Band.
27 min: Muzhikov forces another corner … played short to Shomko (who has been impressive thus far), and clipped in cleverly by the full-back. An Atletico head is there to meet the ball, though.
25 min: Astana will be pretty happy about this opening quarter. Eric has flapped at the odd cross and there’s been the odd shot blocked at source, but in general they’ve not been under too much pressure.
22 min: Another Astana corner, this time won by the Colombian Roger Canas and headed over the bar.
21 min: … thumped in deep, nodded back across goal, and very well claimed by Oblak.
20 min: Kabananga tears down the left and pulls back. Blocked. Corner to Astana …
19 min: Griezmann, who has scored on this ground before (when playing for France U21s), flicks on a Juanfran cross but the ball evades his team-mates in the box.
17 min: A shocking pass from Kabananga fails to find Foxi on the left. Ball straight out of play a good five yards behind the midfielder.
16 min: Saul gets on the end of an inswinging Atletico corner, but his glancing header is well over the bar.
14 min: The controlled possession is largely Atletico’s but they’re not really using it with an incision at the moment.
13 min: “People better hope Anthony Taylor isn’t reffing their team’s game this coming weekend,” writes JR in Illinois. “He’s got a 67 hour drive (via the M1) to get back home, and that’s with no traffic. He’s going to be exhausted.” Perhaps he’ll officiate on Sunday so that he gets an extra day’s rest.
12 min: Eric flaps at a corner and Tiago smites a shot at goal. It pings away of the shins off a defender.
Updated
10 min: On commentary David Pleat claims grass burns are a thing of the past on these high-tech new synthetic surfaces. I’ve played on a few half-decent versions and my hairless shins can confirm that on those pitches grass burn is very much alive and well. Has anyone out there who has played on the best stuff confirm or deny their non-burn qualities?
8 min: It’s scrappier than Scooby-Doo’s nephew so far.
7 min: The aforementioned Foxi swings the ball in from a free-kick and finds Shonko scurrying in at the far post. His low shot across goal is a decent one and well claimed by Oblak.
5 min: … it’s swung in by Gabi and punched away by Eric in the Astana goal. Foxi Kethevoama looks to bring the ball away but he can’t keep possession.
The Astana captain has “Foxi” on the back of his shirt. I seriously hope to hear a rendition of this from the home fans …
4 min: Saul threatens to get away down the right and wins his team a corner …
3 min: Oblak skews a clearance out of play for a throw-in midway inside the Atletico half, but the home side work the ball backwards and along the back four.
2 min: Juanfran and Saul make a bit of a mess of a throw-in routine on the Astana left and the home side have a goal kick.
Peep! Off we go then. Atleti are in their traditional red and white, Astana in pale blue.
Champions League anthem time. No audible booing to report but there is cheering when it’s over, which, when you think about it, is implied booing.
Click-clack, click-clack … the teams are in the tunnel. Thermals all round for the English match officials by the look of it.
There’s no snow on the artificial pitch at the Astana Arena, but the temperature is still hovering in and around freezing …
As I’m sure you’re all aware, it’s the final day of the Kazakh Premier League season on Sunday, with Astana a point clear of second-placed Kairat at the summit. But despite that crunch domestic weekend ahead, the home side have named a pretty much full-strength lineup.
The teams
Astana (4-4-2): Erić; B Ilic, Anicic, Postnikov, Shomko; Dzholchiyev, Maksimović, Cañas, Kéthévoama; Muzhikov, Kabananga. Subs:Loginovski, Akhmetov, Pikalkin, Beysebekov, Zhukov, Dedechko, Schetkin.
Atlético Madrid (4-2-3-1): Oblak; Juanfran, Godín, Giménez, Siqueira; Tiago, Gabi; Saúl Ñíguez, Griezmann, Koke; Torres. Subs: Moyà, Filipe Luís, Savić, Óliver Torres, Partey, Martínez, Carrasco.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Eng)
Preamble
Only one winner here, surely? Atléti began their Champions League campaign with a comfortable win in Istanbul against Galatasaray and hammered Astana 4-0 last time out, and although those delicious slices of victory are separated bitter sandwich paste of defeat against Benfica, they’ll be hugely confident of taking another step towards the knockout stages today. A win is the only satisfactory result for Diego Simeone’s team: the qualification situation in Group C was muddied by Gala’s surprise win over the Portuguese side a fortnight ago.
Astana, with a largely homegrown Kazakh squad, squeaked past Maribor, squeezed past Finland’s HJK and scraped past Apoel Nicosia in the qualifying rounds for the honour of having their buttocks handed to them in the group stages proper. So this shouldn’t be a problem for a Madrid side filled with quality.
BUT …
It’s a touch nippy over in Kazakhstan. There’s snow on the ground and it’s -2C. Can Atlético’s player do it on a cold night in Astana? “Atlético are the favourites but anything can happen in football,” said Astana’s Bulgarian manager Stanimir Stoilov. “It’s a really long and complicated journey from Madrid to get here; we have had trips to Lisbon and Madrid so we know how hard it is. Maybe the cold weather will cause Atlético problems. We can open the roof in the stadium a bit to make it tougher for them.”
Kick off: 3pm BST
