Full time: Atletico Madrid 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen (aggregate: 4-2)
Peep peep! Atletico are into the quarter-finals for the fourth consecutive season. The game was more fun than the scoreline suggests, with some classy attacking play - particularly from Leverkusen - and some beautiful goalkeeping from Oblak and Leno. Thanks for your company, goodnight.
89 min Gaitan is booked for a high tackle on Kampl.
87 min When The Joy of Six: Meaningless 0-0s is written, this will be in there. It has defied all logic by being an enjoyable, engaging game.
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86 min Griezmann stabs a pass into Saul on the edge of the area. He turns and whacks a low left-footed shot that is comfortably held by the sprawling Leno.
84 min Godin has had a superb game tonight. He could easily have coasted but his beyond-the-call commitment sums up the sheer pride of this Atletico side.
80 min The substitute Bailey cuts across an awkward, bouncing shot from 25 yards that is turned behind by the diving Oblak. The corner is played short and worked to Kampl, whose low 25-yard curler is again repelled by Oblak, a good save as he was probably unsighted.
78 min The match is starting to peter out. Leverkusen bring on Leon Bailey for the impressive Julian Brandt.
73 min Bellarabi’s fierce left-footed shot from the edge of the box is spilled by Oblak, but Savic is on hand to beat Hernandez to the loose ball and concede a corner. Leverkusen have had their moments tonight.
72 min Another Atletico change: Stefan Savic comes on for Yannick Carrasco.
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71 min Baumgartlinger is booked for pulling back Vrsaljko.
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70 min Griezmann misses a chance, rifling wide of the near post from a tightish angle after a good pass from Carrasco.
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68 min Oblak makes a tremendous triple save to deny first Brandt and then Volland. The second and third stops, both from Volland, were especially good as he had to get to his feet each time. The ball then deflects to Hernandez, whose low shot is deflected just wide of the far post by one of the four Atletico defenders guarding the goal as a mother guards her cubs.
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66 min Another classy take from Hernandez prompts a bad foul from Gimenez, who is booked.
65 min Gimenez goes over in the box after a slight shove from Hilbert. The referee isn’t interested.
64 min A change for Atletico: Nicolas Gaitan replaces the lively Angel Correa.
63 min The smooth, talented Brandt tries to run the last man Godin, who stretches to make a vital tackle. Atletico break and Correa is fouled by Jedvaj, who is booked.
62 min A nice chipped pass into the area by Kampl is taken beautifully on the turn by Hernandez, who is denied a clear chance by a desperate tackle from Gimenez. Leverkusen have shown a lot of class going forward.
60 min Griezmann sprays a languid, swirling crossfield pass to the indefatigable Vrsaljko, who wins a corner. That leads to a second corner, this time on the left. It’s played short to Correa, who stabs it up in the air and belts a dangerous volleyed cross on the turn that is cleared at the near post.
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57 min Griezmann is played through on the right-hand side of the box. He has no support so goes for a right-footed chip that beats Leno and drifts just wide of the far post. That was a lovely effort. For a meaningless game, this has been great.
54 min A chance at the other end for Atletico. Correa beats two players in a tight area and tries to swerve a left-footed daisy cutter into far corner. It curls a couple of yards wide. Had it gone in, it would have almost identical to this goal.
53 min Ach! Another tantalising moment for Leverkusen. Brandt beats four players in a tight area with a lovely piece of skill and then plays a through pass to Volland on the right of the box. He tries to give Hernandez a tap-in at the far post but puts too much on his angled pass and it drifts behind for a goalkick.
49 min Volland, who has put himself about in the retro-masculine style tonight, is a bit fortunate not to be booked for a hack at Saul Niguez.
46 min Peep peep! Atletico begin the second half and have a half-chance after seven seconds. Wendell miscontrolled the ball straight to Griezmann, who dragged a first-time shot wide from 18 yards.
“Hi Rob,” says John Parry. “Just popped into the Atletico supporters” bar opposite my flat in Málaga for a nose, on the way home from my Spanish lesson. Not one single person was looking at the telly. But there are specials on soup and fried anchovies, so it’s no wonder really.”
Ginsters anchovies, I hope.
Half time: Atletico Madrid 0-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Peep peep! That was a fun half of football, despite the situation in the tie. Leverkusen had a lot of half-chances, and their keeper Leno made two lovely saves at the other end. See you in 10 minutes to see if Leverkusen can outmiracle Barcelona.
42 min If this was a first-leg match it would be a bit of a cracker. There have been plenty of opportunities at both ends and here’s another for Leverkusen. Kampl dinks an elegant pass over four defenders for Hernandez, whose first-time half-volley on the turn hits Godin and spins behind for a corner. That was a crucial block from Godin, seven yards from his own goal.
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41 min Matt Dony sent this email at precisely the moment I posted that Leverkusen video, showing once again that nostalgia is so damn hot right now. Or should it be nostalgia was so damn hot right then? Anyway.
“After spending my late teens exclusively working on musical snobbery, I fell back in love with football in my early 20’s. Early 00’s Champions League was a big part of that, and it’s funny how individual moments stick in your brain. I can’t think of Leverkusen without seeing Gerrard slide past Ballack dummying a shot, before cutting back on his left and spanking one in. I can’t remember exactly what the final score was, but I can see that goal clear as day. Then, a few games later, Leverkusen allowed Zidane to teach us all the true meaning of the word ‘volley’. Magnificent times.”
Yeah, that was a golden age of Champions League football. The future’s yours but the past was mine.
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40 min Leno makes another lovely save. Griezmann played a long pass infield to Koke, who fed it forward to Correa and kept running. Correa played a square return pass with a weight that allowed Koke to smack a low first-time drive towards the bottom corner from 25 yards. Leno got down really smartly to his right to turn it behind for a corner.
38 min The best moment of the match. A beautifully weighted touch from Griezmann allows Correa to make an angled run into the box, away from Jedvaj, before striking a near-post shot that is beautifully tipped round by Leno. That was an exceptional save.
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37 min Kampl moves away from Koke and tries a shot from 25 yards. It goes high over the bar. Three points for trying though.
35 min This match is being played on a mezzanine level between friendly and competitive. Hernandez turns smartly on the edge of the box before his attempted pass to Brandt is blocked by Partey.
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33 min In lieu of any action in 2017, let’s go back to the beautiful season of 2001-02. Now that was a time for cigarettes and booze.
32 min A precis of the incident in the last five minutes:
27 min At the other end Godin’s headed clearance comes to Baumgartlinger, who loops a volley over the bar from 25 yards. Leverkusen have dominated, though it doesn’t feel like there is anything for Atletico to worry about.
25 min Wendell’s headed clearance comes to Koke, who volleys an awkward dropping ball into orbit.
23 min “Will Fernando Torres get some minutes, as they say, tonight?” says Charles Antaki. “As a story arc, his is a lot more satisfying than many recent Spanish ex-international strikers; yes, David Villa had fun in the MLS, but consider Morientes,or the current pair of Premiership strugglers Negredo and Llorente. A few minutes in a Champions’ League knockout stage isn’t too shabby...”
21 min Leverkusen are creating opportunities. Brandt’s cut back from the left side of the box finds Hernandez, who sweeps a snapshot over the bar from 10 yards. For a finisher of his class that was a decent chance.
20 min If Leverkusen are to do anything here - and as you can probably tell, this flight of fancy comes from sheer boredom on my part - they probably need to be at least 1-0 up at half-time. After that, they can follow the George Graham/Anfield 89 route to success.
17 min “I’m reading your MBM because I’m at work here in Chicago and I have recorded the Monaco/Man City match to watch when I get home,” says Matt Burtz. “Don’t worry about spoiling the first goal in that one though!”
Oof, apologies. I’ll keep quiet about John Stones punching Pep Guardiola straight in his confused coupon.
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15 min Chances at both ends. Correa’s shot is blocked by a Leverkusen defender after a gorgeous disguised pass from Carrasco; Leverkusen break and Hernandez plays a simple through ball to Brandt, who delays his shot and is dispossessed by Vrsaljko.
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14 min In the nicest possible way, there is absolutely no point to any of this. European football should have a throw-in-the-towel option ahead of the second leg.
12 min “If this tournament is a corollary to the 2016 PDC then I calculate Leverkusen are Alan Norris and will beat Mark Webster’s Atletico tonight,” says Greg Phillips. “It’s not too late to put a fiver on it.”
But will you bet responsibly?
11 min Atletico pass the clock down for a minute or two. Vrsaljko wins a corner after a lovely one-two with the frequently outstanding Koke. The corner is swung out by Koke and headed towards goal by the under pressure Gimenez. It loops up and is easily claimed by Leno.
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9 min I suspect you are elsewhere. And if you’re not, you should be: Monaco are 1-0 up against Manchester City.
6 min Leverkusen have started very well for a team who are 99.99999 per cent certain to go out. They have had most of the possession and look sharp in attack, especially Bellarabi.
4 min An early chance for Leverkusen. Kampl feeds a good pass into Volland, who turns beautifully just inside the area and drives a low shot just wide of the far post.
3 min The right-winger Bellarabi beats Lucas, promisingly, and then belts a cross straight out of play, not so promisingly.
2 min A quiet start to the match, so here’s some Leverkusen-themed porn for you.
1 min Peep peep! Leverkusen, in black, kick off from right to left. Atletico are wearing the usual.
Tonight’s soundtrack is for an eternal friend.
“A night of celebration for Atletico, you say?” says Matt Dony. “They might even have a Partey on the pitch. I’m here all week. Try the patatas bravas.”
If someone mentions doing the Hokey Koke...
Barcelona 6-1 PSG, Manchester City 5-3 Monaco, Leicester 2-0 Sevilla, Arsenal 2-159 Bayern Munich ... this has been the most eye-widening last-16 stage in any major sport since the 2016 PDC World Championship. If Leverkusen go through tonight, it might even top that.
Team news
Atletico Madrid (4-4-2) Oblak; Vrsaljko, Gimenez, Godin, Lucas Hernandez; Saul Niguez, Partey, Koke, Carrasco; Correa, Griezmann.
Substitutes: Moya, Torres, Savic, Cerci, Juanfran, Gaitan, Juan Moreno.
Bayer Leverkusen (4-2-3-1) Leno; Hilbert, Jedvaj, Dragovic, Wendell; Baumgartlinger, Kampl; Bellararbi, Volland, Brandt; Hernandez.
Substitutes: Ozcan, Bailey, Mehmedi, Pohjanpalo, Aranguiz, da Costa, Yurchenko.
Referee Sergei Karasev (Russia)
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Preamble
“There’s nothing that can’t be done,” said Michael McManus, dead-eyed hero of the Usual Suspects. Half an hour later he took a serrated one in the neck from Keyser Soze, proving that some things really can’t be done. Ask Bayer Leverkusen. They need to score at least three goals in Madrid, maybe more, if they are to overturn a 4-2 first-leg defeat. We’re all friends here, so let us speak frankly: this tie is over.
This, then, should be a night of celebration for Atletico, who will reach a fourth consecutive European Cup quarter-final. They are the charismatic, uninvited guests who have crashed crash an era of big-club dominance. They ended Real Madrid and Barcelona’s La Liga duopoly. If they can end their Champions League duopoly as well, especially after losing two finals in such heartbreaking circumstances, it’ll be the greatest achievement since Brian Clough wore a green jumper.
Kick off is at 7.45pm.
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