A great victory for Atlético, and a deserved one. They defended superbly, and their margin of victory might have been bigger had Antoine Griezmann not missed that late penalty. Bayern had most of the ball but struggled to create clear chances, although Lewandowski missed a late header when he got free from Savic. Good game, good football, good times. Thanks for reading. Bye!
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Full-time: Atlético Madrid 1-0 Bayern Munich
That’s it!
90 min +4 Neuer is in the centre circle. Ribery is dispossessed on the edge of the box, and Atleti bring it clear.
90 min +2 Thomas Partey replaces Griezmann as Atleti look to run down the clock.
90 min +1 Gameiro shoots into the side netting. Five minutes of added time!
90 min Gaitan is tripped, and Bayern are frustrated. We’re into stoppage time, and Atleti force a corner.
88 min Robben looks to dribble, but Atleti have men back, and they clear the danger.
86 min Vidal is booked for that late tackle on Saul, but Atleti can’t make the subsequent free kick count.
85 min Just back to the penalty: Griezmann feinted slightly, Neuer stayed up, and Griezmann just smacked it against the crossbar. Not dissimilar at all from the one in last year’s final.
84 min Now Vidal and Saul are down after a nasty clash on the edge of the box, so we’ll take a break.
Griezmann misses the penalty!
Off the bar! Amazing.
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Penalty to Atlético!
Vidal on Filipe Luis! Reckless, and Szymon Marciniak didn’t hesitate.
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81 min Robben from the edge of the box! It’s just wide. He hit it with curl, on his left foot, but a yard the wrong side of the post.
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79 min Nico Gaitan is on for Fernando Torres.
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78 min Oh, what a chance! Lewandowski. Alonso whipped a cross in, Lewandowski got free, about 10 yards out, but headed just wide! Should have hit the target. Big chance!
76 min Ribery wins a corner off Savic. Poor clearance from Koke, and Ribery with a chance to shoot … it’s deflected over. And then Bayern totally waste the subsequent corner by taking it short.
75 min Great play from Torres, who went round Hummels and stood it up at the back post, but Griezmann didn’t quite have the inches, and it’s behind for a goal kick.
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72 min Joshua Kimmich is on for Thiago, incidentally.
70 min Kevin Gameiro replaces the goalscorer, who’s given many cheers by the home fans.
69 min Robben hasn’t had the chance to run at Filipe Luis yet. Carrasco has done really well to double up on that flank.
66 min Carrasco has a pop from distance, and Neuer does well to get down and parry.
63 min Still no way through for Bayern.
Here’s Matjaz Hribar with some extremely useful information: “I would say Slovene. It is approximately like Briton, Slovenian like British. But then again, in daily communication, Slovenian is used a lot instead of Slovene. Bad English or our love for adjectives? I hope this helps you.
“Btw, Oblak written means cloud in English. For pronunciation, just the accent is changed: Óblak vs Oblák (cloud).”
Thanks Matjaz!
62 min And now Mats Hummels is on for Jerome Boateng, who hasn’t looked fit.
61 min Still Bayern are finding it difficult to penetrate. There’s just no space for them in the final third. So Arjen Robben is summoned from the bench, and he’ll replace Thomas Müller, who’s been quiet.
59 min Thiago, who’s already been booked, is late on Carrasco. Careful now!
58 min Juanfran skates into the area and wins a corner off Boateng. Lewandowski wanted a penalty moments earlier after Savic came in from behind. I’ve seen them given!
56 min Alaba shoots, and Oblak, taking no chances, pushes it behind for corner. He might have held that, but Atleti do enough to hustle the ball clear.
54 min Atlético have so many players back whenever Bayern break. They’re extremely adept at denying the opposition space, aren’t they?
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52 min It’s been a good start to the second half from Bayern: they’ve pushed Atleti right back into their own territory. Bayern’s back four are right on halfway. But that’s a waste from Xabi Alonso, and it’s behind for a goal kick.
49 min Gabi fouls Thiago, and Xabi Alonso’s free kick is headed behind by Savic for a corner. And Müller heads wide! He was totally free at the back post, but the angle was tight, and he didn’t quite get the connection. Oblak probably had it covered, in any case.
48 min Incidentally, Celtic have just gone 3-2 up against Man City! Absurd. Probably a half-decent atmosphere at Parkhead.
47 min Teasing ball in from the left side from Koke, but no one attacked it, and it’s all the way through to Manuel Neuer.
46 min We’re back! And no changes from either side.
Half-time: Atlético Madrid 1-0 Bayern Munich
An entertaining first half, and Atleti lead. They’ve been defensive, and cautious, but Carrasco scored an excellent goal, and Fernando Torres should have had another, but inexplicably headed against the post from three yards out. Bayern have enjoyed most of the ball, and are gorgeous in possession, but have been throttled by Atlético’s stout defence. Lots to look forward to in the second half; see you in 15.
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45 min Good defending from Javi Martinez to ease Carrsaco off it and win the goal kick. Carrasco looks full of running, though.
43 min Alaba crosses, Juanfran sticks out a leg, Lewandowksi lunges, and Oblak collects. It’s not quite running right for Bayern.
41 min Gabi’s ball in is delicious, but Godin is called for push.
40 min Boateng went in very hard on Saul, and is booked. He took the ball, but he was off his feet, and caught Saul on the follow-through. Bayern’s third caution.
38 min Bayern looked a little ponderous at the back there, but it was a lovely flick from Griezmann to set Carrasco away. And the shot was excellent. Now Ribery with a free shot from 10 yards, but it’s wide! Big chance, that.
36 min Great feed from Griezmann, and Carrasco streaked clear, and beat Neuer with a super left-foot shot. He hit it early, and hard, and Neuer couldn’t get there. In off the post, Atletico take the lead, and, on balance, it’s probably deserved.
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GOAL! Atlético Madrid 1-0 Bayern Munich (Carrasco 35)
But this time Neuer is beaten! A super strike from Carrasco, and Atleti lead!
35 min Lovely football from Atleti, but Torres couldn’t quite find the finish. Lovely pass from Koke to find Torres in the area, inside left, and he accepted it beautifully with one touch, but his left-foot shot was just off target. Super pass from Koke, though – it beat about four Bayern defenders.
33 min Crude tackle from Thiago on Filipe Luis as he looked break, and the Bayern player is booked.
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30 min It’s not quite working for Bayern in attack. Alaba hasn’t had much chance to advance, and Müller, that one shot aside, has been quiet. Atleti working extremely hard to close off the space.
28 min Lewandowski gets up above Savic from Lahm’s cross, but he can’t quite get the power, and it’s easily saved by Oblak.
27 min Lahm miscontrols, for the first time in about 11 years.
24 min Atletico enjoying a better spell just now, but Bayern are still in control of the ball: they’ve had 63% of possession. Lahm is booked for a late clip.
22 min Well. What a chance! It was slung in from the corner, flicked on, and all Torres had to do was head it over the line – but he couldn’t do it! Off the post, and scrambled clear. How did he miss?
21 min Oh my word, how did Torres not score? He was three yards out, totally unmarked, and headed it against the post! Oh, Fernando!
20 min Atleti are so tactically competent, aren’t they? Bayern finding it extremely difficult to drag them out of position. And now the hosts have a corner after good work from Filipe Luis.
18 min Good save from Neuer to deny Carrasco! He went past two and hit it hard, but Neuer got hands to it and beat it away. It’s livening up here.
Here’s Oliver Driesen: “Hi Tim, the thing about that disgusting Bayern outfit is not so much the grey shirts or white socks but the red numbers that somehow manage to look pink from afar. Or do I just have to adjust my TV?”
Yes, I know what you mean: the names and numbers definitely look pinkish. Hot pink? Deep pink? Orchid?
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14 min Is it Slovene or Slovenian? I must know! First yellow card of the game for Saul, who slid into Arturo Vidal in reasonably artless fashion. Actually, that was a really fine save from Oblak: Müller timed his run really well and hit it cleanly, but Oblak showed excellent reactions.
13 min And now Oblak saves from Müller! Snapshot on the volley from the rangy German ace™, but the Slovene Oblak got down really smartly. Good save.
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12 min Chance! It was a mistake in defence by Javi Martinez, and Torres picked his pocket. He was forced rather wide, so didn’t take the shot and instead tried to cut back inside, by which time Martinez had recovered to block, possibly with some pushing thrown in for good measure, although Torres didn’t really appeal.
9 min Savic comes across to nick it away from Ribery, who is now a barely believable 33. Thirty-three! He still streaks past defenders as though he’s a tearaway teenager. But he hasn’t had much chance in this game so far. Defences on top.
7 min On the touchline, Simeone is already exercised about something or other. What an intense coach he is. And Ancelotti quite the opposite. Atleti win another free kick, but they try to play it short, and it comes to nothing.
5 min Atleti win a free kick just outside the centre circle, and it’s tossed in towards Godin, but he’s offside. A relatively pedestrian start so far.
3 min First look for Atleti in attack, and Lahm does well to prevent the corner after Torres looked to go at him wide left. Then Saul is whistled for a foul on Xabi Alonso, and Bayern have it back.
2 min Bayern have pushed up right to the halfway line. Boateng looks long for Lewandowski, and Godin comes across to concede a corner, which is headed clear.
1 min And we’re off! Atleti in classic red and white stripes; Bayern in reasonably disgusting grey.
The players are out on the pitch. We’re close.
Regardless of today’s result, we can reasonably expect these two sides to qualify for the last 16 in a slightly misshapen Group D. Rostov looked wide-eyed against Bayern last week, and PSV’s 0-1 home defeat by Atleti was a bad one: they’re already playing catch-up, and you suspect they’ll need to win the return match in Madrid, which is no easy task. All of which seems to suggest serious reform of the group stage is needed.
And Celtic 0-3 Man City here:
There’s lots more Champions League action tonight, and you can follow Arsenal 4-1 Basel here:
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So Fernando Torres partners Antoine Griezmann up front for the home side, and Kevin Gameiro starts from the bench. Bayern include Jerome Boateng in central defence, and Franck Ribery also starts. Atlético have not conceded a goal in their last five Champions League home matches.
Tonight's teams
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Juanfran, Godin, Savic, Filipe Luis, Carrasco, Gabi, Saul, Koke, Torres, Griezmann. Subs: Andre Moreira, Correa, Vrsaljko, Lucas, Gameiro, Thomas, Gaitan.
Bayern Munich: Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Javi Martinez, Alaba, Alonso, Vidal, Thiago, Muller, Lewandowski, Ribery. Subs: Ulreich, Hummels, Robben, Rafinha, Coman, Kimmich, Renato Sanches.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland)
Hello and welcome
It’s only the group stage, and the group stage in the Champions League is reassuringly predictable, but today’s Group D clash is an entertaining match-up between two admirable sides. Last year, Atlético put Bayern out in the semi-finals on away goals, and were a shootout away from hoisting the trophy against Real Madrid; Bayern, on the other hand, haven’t reached a final since they won the thing in 2013, which, for a team that has been pure class for a decade, is arguably a disappointment.
For the Bavarians, Guardiola has gone, Ancelotti is in, but the Bavarians keep on winning: they’re perfect in the league so far, and they thumped FC Rostov 5-0 in their first Champions League game last week. But Atleti are also unbeaten in 2016-17, and they’ve won 25 of their past 30 European home games.
Kick off, as always is 8.45pm local time. Let’s hope for some good football.
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Tim will be here shortly. In the meantime, read why Leicester are surging in the Champions League:
Leicester are getting carried away by the excitement of Europe. Who wouldn’t, in their position? With the best will in the world, they are unlikely to win the Premier League again. Not this season, not next season, perhaps not ever. Even if Ranieri and his players could keep up the dashing hit-and-run tactics of last season, even if they could somehow retain the element of surprise and stealth, the other teams in the race have all improved and strengthened.
Many of them have new managers and massively increased budgets, Manchester City have not just won six league games in a row they have won all 10 of their fixtures under Pep Guardiola. Things have moved on. If Leicester’s success last season was possible only because they were consistently brilliant while the other contenders were dozing or rebuilding, the last part of that equation has altered. City, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham, to name four, do not look as if they intend to be caught napping again.
Maybe the first part of the equation has changed too. If Leicester are not quite the same force it is perhaps because they know they will not be playing for the same prize. Ranieri will continue to talk a good game, his players will continue to run themselves into the ground on his behalf but lightning will not strike twice.
Fairytales are ephemeral things, difficult to repeat on demand. Ranieri appears to understand this. When he talked of “continuing the fairytale” he was speaking of the Champions League challenge, not a domestic season already in danger of returning to the mundane. In all probability everyone at Leicester knows deep down that last season is likely to prove a one-off and nothing is going to be as phenomenal or exciting again.
