So Atlético Madrid are in the Champions League quarter-finals! And it’s hard to argue, based on the last couple of hours, that they don’t deserve to be there, but though they certainly looked brighter and more enterprising than Leverkusen, they created approximately naff all, got a lucky deflection to score from a poor shot, and it’s not harder to be brighter or more enterprising than a side that, like Leverkusen tonight, offers nothing more than workrate. Anyway, the main thing is it’s over. Bye!
There were some absolutely filthy penalties there. Why don’t German sides do that in World Cup semi-finals, eh?
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Kiessling misses! Atlético win! Atlético 3-2 Leverkusen!
Another shocker! Kiessling sends the ball screaming high and wide, and Leverkusen are out!
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Torres scores! Atlético 3-2 Leverkusen
That’s as close as you can come to missing without missing, sneaking into the right corner!
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Castro scores! Atlético 2-2 Leverkusen
Castro smacks the ball to his left, as the goalkeeper goes to his left, and it’s 2-2.
Koke misses! Atlético 2-1 Leverkusen
Koke shoots low to the left, and Leno guesses right and stops it as it arrowed into the bottom corner. Great save!
Toprak misses! Atlético 2-1 Leverkusen
That’s hideous! Really awful! Toprak, who deflected Atlético’s goal into the net, sends his penalty over the bar!
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Mario Suárez scores! Atlético 2-1 Leverkusen
Suárez goes for the same corner, and finds it! Again the keeper goes the right way, but it’s too good!
Rolfes scores! Atlético 1-1 Leverkusen
That one was even better, right into the top right corner! A beauty!
Griezmann scores! Atlético 1-0 Leverkusen
And after two rubbish penalties, a perfect one, high into the top right corner. Leno goes the right way, but low, and can do nothing about it.
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Calhanoglu misses! Atlético 0-0 Leverkusen
Calhanoglu hits a near-identical penalty to García, except to be on the safe side he keeps it on the ground. Oblak stays put, and keeps it out with ease!
García misses! Atlético 0-0 Leverkusen
García curls the ball down the middle, sending the keeper diving out of the way – but it clears the bar by about two yards!
It’ll be Atlético. And Raul García walks forward to take it …
Still waiting to find out who’s taking the first kick, statistically of immense importance.
Bernd Leno has a 37% penalty-saving success rate, the best in Europe. Atlético’s first-choice goalkeeper got injured in the first half. The stage is set.
Final score: Atlético 1-0 Leverkusen – this is going to penalties!
120+2 mins: No.
120+1 mins: One more minute after that last minute. Could there be (etc …)
119 mins: One more minute. Could there be one more chance? Or, more accurately, one chance?
118 mins: Hilbert’s looping long throw is headed clear, and Turan sprints over to stop it rolling out for a corner. He’s got quite the engine, that man.
117 mins: The ball rolls to Leno, who lets it sit at his feet until Torres eventually closes him down. Leverkusen would most definitely be happy with penalties.
116 mins: Torres sends a diving header on target, from a right-wing cross, but it’s a straightforward save.
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115 mins: Arda Turan has got to be the man of the match, for at least offering an occasional flicker of inspiration. Griezmann is the only one to get anywhere near.
113 mins: Anther poor free-kick from Koke. Torres back-headers it, but it goes over. There has been one good free-kick in this match, and there have been a lot of free kicks.
112 mins: Turan finds Griezmann nicely; Griezmann nutmegs his marker even more nicely, and then he’s taken out by Papadopoulos, who is booked.
111 mins: It should have been a corner, mind.
110 mins: Fernando Torres is a bit miffed that he hasn’t won a corner, tells the referee all about it, and is booked.
109 mins: Arda Turan nicks the ball off an opponent’s toes on the left touchline, and then twists and twirls a while to keep possession. That’s a bit of alright, that is.
107 mins: A good save! Raul García tries to blast the ball past Leno at the near post, but the keeper pushes it out of play!
106 mins: We’re back under way, for the final time, Kiessling doing the honours. “Yup its just you,” insists Lilion Cooper. Oh. “As an Atleti fan the second half onwards has had my heart melting. These cynical and dirty charges are boring and outdated.”
Half time in extra time: Still Atlético 1-0 Leverkusen
105+2 mins: The referee’s had enough of this. Fifteen more minutes and some penalties to go, unless someone scores (obviously).
105+1 mins: Into more stoppage time we go, and the linesman celebrates by waving his flag for offside, even though Torres appeared level.
105 mins: The substitution is made, Bender limping off with a pained look on his face. I know how he feels.
103 mins: Bender is on his back, being treated for cramp. Papadopoulos is being readied on the touchline.
102 mins: Kiessling gets booked for dissent after conceding a free-kick by barging Mario Suárez.
100 mins: Juanfran crosses from the right to Griezmann, beyond the far post, who decides to bring the ball down but when he does so a defender arrives to thwack it clear.
99 mins: Atlético win, and waste, another free-kick, from the half-way line.
No @Simon_Burnton not just you. Enjoyed ATM upsetting the La Liga order last year but these days they just come across as dirty and cynical
— Vishal RedDevil (@Funkdakarma) March 17, 2015
96 mins: Raul Garcia is on the pitch, rolling around, holding his face. Of course it looks like he’s cheating, and that’s what the referee decides, but eventually he sits up, and appears to be bleeding. In fact it looks like Kiessling flung an elbow at his cheek there.
95 mins: Leverkusen have looked more enterprising in the first five minutes of extra time than in the 45 minutes that preceded it. Kiessling has a shot from just outside the area, but a deflection takes the sting out of it, and Oblak collects.
92 mins: A foul in midfield prompts anger on both sides. The referee calls the captains together to tell them to calm everybody down.
91 mins: Peeeeep! We’re off again!
The managers have given their rousing on-pitch orations. Please let something good happen.
Atletico might not fancy taking Leverkusen to penalties: GK Bernd Leno has best career save percentage of any Champs Lge GK
— Ben Lyttleton (@benlyt) March 17, 2015
Score after 90 minutes: Atlético 1-0 Leverkusen
90+5 mins: Into extra-time we go. “Gripping stuff at the Vicente Calderon!” enthuses Sky’s commentator. Is it just me who thinks it’s been rubbish?
90+4 mins: Leverkusen win a free-kick just outside their penalty area, take an aeon over it and then hoist it forward.
90+3 mins: Meanwhile in Monaco, Arsenal win 2-0 but are out on away goals.
90+2 mins: Goal kick.
90+1 mins: Atlético win a corner. Koke over the ball. Sooner or later there must be a good one?
90+1 mins: If nobody scores in the next four minutes, we will indeed have extra time.
90 mins: Another poor cross, this time from Koke, is headed clear by the near-post defender.
89 mins: A late booking for Wendell, for a foul on Torres. The free-kick is on the right wing, just outside the penalty area.
88 mins: Gámez gets space on the left, but his cross flies straight to Leno. There have been a lot of poor balls into the box tonight, both from open play and set pieces
87 mins: The referee ignores a couple of possible fouls to allow Atlético to attack, and Turan finds Torres with a long right-to-left pass, but a defender arrives to clear into touch.
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85 mins: Leverkusen’s best attack of the half ends with Bellarabi overhitting his cross. Goal kick.
83 mins: Now Atlético do make their final substitution, and Fernando Torres replaces Mandzukic.
80 mins: Mandzukic, who has spent too long running the channels rather than leading the line, runs down the right and though his cross doesn’t reach its target, it rolls loose, Griezmann touches to Turan and suddenly space opens up in front of him, just inside the penalty area, but his shot is weak and easily saved.
79 mins: Nearly a chance for Atlético, only for someone – Rolfes, it seems – to get in between the ball and Griezmann, six yards out.
78 mins: The referee’s back in his pocket, waving his yellow card at Calhanoglu, who took out Gámez.
77 mins: Another change for Leverkusen, Simon Folfes replacing Son Heung-Min.
75 mins: Ooooh (again)! Griezmann bursts down the left and cuts back to the near post, where Arda Turan might have attempted to score, but instead tries a backheel flick towards a team-mate, misses the ball completely and it’s deflected to safety.
73 mins: Leverkusen simply haven’t looked like scoring here, but at the same time Atlético have struggled to create anything, and needed a hefty deflection to score. In other words, extra time looms.
72 mins: Jesus Gámez gets booked, for fouling Kiessling, getting straight up again and fouling Bellarabi as well. Quite the double-whammy.
70 mins: Ooooh! Koke plays in a peach of a free-kick, and Raul García just misses it. Replays show that Kiessling got a faint but vital touch to the ball on its way through, though nobody – and certainly not the referee – spotted it at the time.
70 mins: Leverkusen bring Kiessling on for Drkmic, their first substitution.
69 mins: Koke releases Griezmann down the left, and the Frenchman picks out Turan on the edge of the area, whose volley goes well wide. And also high.
68 mins: Another foul, from Suarez this time, near the halfway line. Like so many others, it’s sent straight into the arms of an untroubled goalkeeper.
65 mins: Now that is a foul. Arda Turan goes down the left as Atlético break, and Omer Toprak runs right across him to block his path. And he gets booked for it.
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63 mins: Griezmann executes what looks a perfectly fair diving tackle on Castro, but the referee doesn’t like it. Still, it was miles away from goal, and the free-kick is hoisted forward optimistically, without reward.
60 mins: Leverkusen take a very long time over a free-kick on the left touchline, and then Calhanoglu spears it into the area, and Oblak collects.
58 mins: A Leverkusen shot! It’s Bellarabi, from about a gazillion yards, low and not very hard. But still, a shot.
57 mins: Still Atlético push, but without creating any clear chances. Another corner, and this time Leno punches.
55 mins: Atlético have had the best of this half so far. They win a corner, but it’s curled straight into the arms of Leno (who then hoofs it downfield and straight into the arms of Oblak).
54 mins: Maybe not – he’s put his training top back on and sat down again.
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53 mins: Atlético are about to use up their final substitution, with Gabi getting ready to come on.
50 mins: Gámez plays the ball, runs out of his way into the nearest Leverkusen player, who’s totally innocent and astonished by the whole thing, and then rolls around for a while as his manager and team-mates demand that the referee takes action. That was foul cheating of the most heinous kind.
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48 mins: Another ball in from the left from Mandzukic, and this one’s considerably better than the last, and is touched into Griezmann’s pass, but he’s bustled off the ball.
47 mins: A half-decent early attack from the home side. The good half was the first half, but when that ended with Mandzukic crossing from the left wing everything went a bit downhill.
Re-peeeeeeeeep
46 mins: The visitors get half two under way!
Another substitute for Atlético: Raúl García replaces Cani at the break.
It’s true, Griezmann’s hair is reliably eye-catching. But I for one would take a few moments of quality over 45 minutes of relentless energy.
Doing Atletico v Lev tonight.. Lit up by non stop action, relentless energy, a sensational atmosphere…oh and Antoine Griezmann’s hair…
— Sam Matterface (@sammatterface) March 17, 2015
Half time: Atlético Madrid 1-0 Bayer Leverkusen
45+5 mins: The first half is over. A lot of huff and not a lot of class. One beautiful Arda Turan pass is the very outstanding highlight of the evening so far.
45+3 mins: There are going to be at least four minutes of first-half stoppage time, with potential bonus moments for that Mandzukic thing.
45+1 mins: Another stoppage, this time while Mandsukic receives treatment near the right touchline.
45 mins: Half a chance for Leverkusen! Son Heung-Min carries the ball into the area and then plays in Wendell, whose low, hard centre is blocked by a diving Miranda.
43 mins: This has not been a feast of football. I am not sated.
40 mins: There’s a break in play while Bellarabi is treated for something, having been dispossessed by Koke’s perfect sliding tackle.
38 mins: Another deflected Suárez shot, but this one is sent spinning wide.
37 mins: Leverkusen work the ball into the penalty area, but the move peters out without anyone having a shot.
36 mins: Meanwhile in Monaco, Giroud has put Arsenal 1-0 up.
34 mins: Moments later another Atlético free-kick, this one within shooting range, and Griezmann – miraculously recovered – shoots but the wall leaps and someone heads clear.
33 mins: Griezmann goes down after Son Heung-Min brushes his shorts, and waves an imaginary card suggestively at the referee while lying on the ground. Grrrr.
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31 mins: From nowhere, a chance. What a pass from Turan, releasing Mandzukic, but by the time the striker gets his legs sorted he’s been tackled. Nearly a wonderful chance, and a more confident striker would surely have made more of it.
30 mins: Giménez is booked for flying in on Hakan Calhanoglu in midfield, a nasty challenge. Fast, frantic and imprecise – the tackling is mirroring the match, really.
GOAL! Atlético Madrid 1-0 Leverkusen (Suárez, 27 mins)
Leverkusen defend the free-kick well enough but it eventually is headed to Suárez, whose first-time left-foot shot from 20 yards is on its way straight to Leno before Omer Toprak sticks out a leg and deflects it into the net!
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26 mins: Spanic is booked for a foul on Cani, who makes the very most of what contact there is (it was a foul, mind).
23 mins: Oblak may already be on the pitch, but he’s still warming up, so a defender takes the goal-kick.
23 mins: Moya is off, and Jan Oblak comes on.
20 mins: Half-chance! Leverkusen slides the ball in from the right and Son Heung-Min would have had a great chance had he only controlled the ball, rather than sending it running through to Miguel Angel Moya. But in coming to collect it the Atlético goalkeeper pulls his hamstring, and it looks like he’ll have to come off.
19 mins: Arda Turan spins on the ball in midfield and then falls backwards into Gonzalo Castro. Atlético demand a yellow card, but that seemed a pretty clear backwards dive to me.
17 mins: A shot! Son Heung-Min with it, and it looks goalbound, but it’s blocked.
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16 mins: Atlético win a free-kick, deep and slightly left of centre, which is thumped straight over the heads of all the outfield players and into the arms of Leno, who that dodgy punch apart has been both very busy and totally untroubled.
14 mins: Juanfran bursts down the right and then passes infield to Griezmann, who tries to do something fancy that doesn’t come off.
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12 mins: Atlético win a corner and curl it towards the near post, where Leno makes an unconvincing attempt to punch and fails, but it comes off a Spanish head and goes way wide. Leno takes an absolute age over the goal-kick, prompting rage in the stands, complaints on the pitch and a bit of extra delay while the referee tells everyone to calm down.
10 mins: A shot! A shot! Karim Bellarabi with it, from 20 yards, but it clips a defender’s leg and skids well wide. The corner is cleared by Mandzukic.
9 mins: Atlético are playing the more “vertical” football so far. Lots of aimless punts forward, each time the ball skidding off the turf and away from harm.
7 mins: Still a whole lot of not very much going on. Son handballs in midfield, and Atlético take a quick free-kick that goes nowhere near anyone in stripes and away to Leno.
5 mins: Leno has the ball in his hands, hoofs it upfield, and it’s headed straight back into Leno’s hands again. This time he goes short, Atlético press immediately and a panicked defence ends up conceding a corner.
3 min: It’s a breathless start, but all perspiration and little inspiration.
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1 min: Atlético are on the front foot straight away, and Arda Turan carries the ball past several players only to go to ground a couple of yards outside the box. The referee is unmoved.
Peeeeeeeeeep!
1 min: The home side get us under way.
The pre-match guff is done. It’s football time.
We’re shown Pep Guardiola, who’s in the stands, and are told that he is “spectating”. Rare use of the verb spectate there. Most of us simply watch; Pep spectates.
The coverage finally starts just in time to show us the build-up to the only goal of the tie so far (but not the goal itself) before the players leave the tunnel.
So, wondering why Sky still haven’t started their coverage, I switch over to Sky Sports 5 and am surprised to find Leverkusen and Atlético already playing. It takes me a wildly panicked few seconds to realise these are highlights of the first leg.
This is Sky’s guess at tonight’s formations. It’s not the same as Uefa’s, which has Atlético in a 4-4-2 with Koke and Mario Suárez in central midfield. Mandzukic and Griezmann up front and Cani and Arda Turan on the wings, but they agree about Leverkusen.
This is how Atletico Madrid & Bayer Leverkusen line up for tonight's Champions League game live on Sky Sports #SkyCL pic.twitter.com/FAWHC67Lny
— SkySportsCL (@SkySportsCL) March 17, 2015
Tonight's teams!
The team sheets are in, and scrawled upon them are the following names:
Atletico Madrid: Moya, Juanfran, Miranda, Gimenez, Jesus Gamez, Cani, Mario Suarez, Koke, Turan, Griezmann, Mandzukic. Subs: Oblak, Raul Garcia, Jimenez, Gabi, Ansaldi, Torres, Lucas Hernandez.
Bayer Leverkusen: Leno, Hilbert, Toprak, Spahic, Wendell, Bellarabi, Castro, Bender, Son, Calhanoglu, Drmic. Subs: Kresic, Reinartz, Rolfes, Kiessling, Papadopoulos, Boenisch, Brandt.
Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)
Hello world!
So Atletico have a 0-1 first-leg deficit to recover as the fourth-placed teams in Spain and Germany go head to head with a Champions League quarter-final place at stake. It’s a finely-balanced affair, but despite their indifferent domestic form Atletico’s recent home record in Europe – three wins in the group stage with a 10-0 aggregate score, and nine wins and no defeats in 10 since Diego Simeone’s appointment as manager – offers considerable encouragement, even if Thiago Mendes and Diego Godin are both suspended. “We are the underdogs,” admitted the Leverkusen manager Roger Schmidt, “but underdogs with a good chance.”
Simeone doesn’t think very much of Leverkusen’s football, insisting “they are a very vertical team, they play very direct football”; Schmidt sniffs that they simply “try to keep possession and look for fast transitions”. Well we’ll be the judge, but whether they’re vertical or not the German side are overwhelming favourites among bookmakers to be laid out by the end of tonight, with Atletico a best-priced 4-5 to progress with UK bookies.
Meanwhile Simeone has called upon his fans to make as much noise as possible – “We want a noisy stadium that pushes us to get things done. We don’t want a moment’s silence” – and Schmidt has called upon his fans to make even more noise than that – “This is a huge challenge and our fans are part of it. We will feed off the atmosphere and turn it into an extra motivation for us” – so at the very least a raucous atmosphere seems guaranteed.
Anyway, hello!
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