The man of the moment ...
Here is Nick Ames’ report ...
It’ll be PSG v Leipzig in the first semi-final next Tuesday. Julian Nagelsmann races onto the pitch to celebrate with his players. Diego Simeone sportingly applauds his conquerors. Joao Felix, who changed the game for a while after coming on, looks thoroughly crestfallen. Thing is, Atletico were the better side when they switched into attack mode; the only problem was, they only seriously went for it after falling behind, and upon equalising soon drifted back into passivity and defensive caution, their default setting. Leipzig by contrast kept pressing for the duration, were rewarded for their more positive approach with a big slice of luck, and on balance deservedly go through to the semis. Congratulations to Leipzig, commiserations to Atletico, and thanks for reading this MBM. Same place tomorrow night? Why not? In the meantime, nighty night!
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FULL TIME: Leipzig 2-1 Atletico Madrid
That’s it all right! Leipzig reach the semi-finals of the Champions League a mere 11 years after their formation; Atletico Madrid’s long painful wait for the big one goes on.
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90 min +8: Felix swings one in from the left. Morata extends a leg, but Gulacsi punches clear. Another free kick, and that’s surely it.
90 min +7: Angelino is shoved towards the dugouts by Felipe. Haidara, on a booking, gets involved in the resulting melee. The referee calms everything down quickly enough.
90 min +6: But it’s surely all over as Gimenez slides in on Halstenberg and picks up a booking.
90 min +5: Gulasci gathers and does the clock-management thing. No final whistle yet.
90 min +4: Morata juggles in the Leipzig box, but the ball doesn’t drop for a shot. No luck for Savic either. This is bedlam. Leipzig somehow survive.
90 min +3: A wild moment as Atletico desperately press forward. A free kick on the left is totally missed by Gulcsi, on walkabout. Mukiele clears. Carrasco has a shot. Deflected. Corner.
90 min +2: Both teams make a change. Mukiele comes on for Sabitzer, while Felipe replaces Koke.
90 min +1: I suspect that goal will be taken off Adams and awarded to Savic. The shot looked like it was heading off to the left, and by some distance too.
90 min: There will be five added minutes.
89 min: Adams’ shot may have been off target, in which case it’ll be a cruel own goal. But it was a lovely move, and a quite stupendous defence-splitting, attack-launching first-time ball by Sabitzer. To Simeone’s immense credit, he applauds the goal that may have wrecked his dream.
GOAL! Leipzig 2-1 Atletico Madrid (Adams 88)
Angelino is sent scampering down the left by a stunning reverse ball from Sabitzer. He pulls back for Adams, in acres, just outside the box. Adams lashes goalwards, towards the bottom left. Oblak dives after it, but it takes a huge deflection off Savic, standing on the penalty spot, and twangs past the committed keeper and into the net!
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86 min: Haidara’s first meaningful act is to pick up a booking for a tug on Llorente.
85 min: Trippier delivers. Upamecano clears. This is delightfully tense as extra-time looms.
84 min: Angelino needlessly lunges in on Morata as the Atletico striker grooves down the right. A free kick that’s essentially a corner.
83 min: Leipzig have been under the cosh since conceding, so here comes a double change to refresh things in attack: Schick and Haidara come on for Nkunku and Olmo.
82 min: Llorente smoothly glides in from the right wing and is unceremoniously tugged back by Kampl. Booking.
80 min: Carrasco and Lodi combine down the left and win a corner. From the set piece, Carrasco cuts in and takes a shot that’s deflected wide for another corner. From the second one, Morata clean misses a header from ten yards.
78 min: A little space and time for Nkunku, 25 yards out in a central position. But he takes all day to consider his options, when putting his foot through it was the clear decision. He eventually gives up possession and Atletico stroll clear. A half-chance gone, there.
77 min: It’s all Atletico right now. Trippier nearly frees Felix into space down the middle. Then he and Llorente combine well down the right but the final ball’s not quite there.
75 min: Gimenez treads on Olmo’s foot. Free kick. Leipzig load the Atletico box. Atletico clear with ease. The Spaniards look so much more confident now.
73 min: Angelino works his way down the left again with great success. He slips a ball across the face of the box for Sabitzer, who spins and shoots wildly over. The first half wasn’t much cop, but this has been great fun since the opening goal.
72 min: Felix made the one-two in the build-up to the penalty with Costa. That’s a huge last contribution by Costa, who is replaced by Morata. Meanwhile Leipzig swap Laimer with Adams.
GOAL! Leipzig 1-1 Atletico Madrid (Felix 71 pen)
Felix, back in his home town, whip-cracks the penalty into the bottom left. Gulacsi guessed correctly, but the shot was hit too sweetly. What an impact the young sub has made!
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Penalty for Atletico!
70 min: Felix has been a constant danger since coming on, and he opens Leipzig up with a one-two down the middle. He enters the box and prepares to shoot. Klostermann comes across in a last-ditch attempt to block, but clumsily takes his man down. A no-brainer of a decision for the ref, and a booking for the defender.
68 min: Felix tricks his way on the left and feeds Carrasco down the channel, but Upamecano stands firm and forces the Atletico midfielder to run the ball out for a goal kick.
67 min: Angelino dances in from the left and tees up Poulsen, who started with Leipzig in the third tier, and went back to his roots with a dismal shank from the edge of the box.
65 min: Costa gives Upamecano a sly nick from behind. It’s not worth anything more than a free kick, but it relieves a little pressure that had been building on Leipzig, and the clock ticks on. Atletico can’t really afford too much nonsense right now.
64 min: ... Gimenez gives away a free kick while trying to stab the ball away from Nkunku. Gulacsi has still only had one save to make this evening.
63 min: Felix is already making a difference, though. He fizzes down the left and draws a foul from Laimer. The resulting free kick is headed behind by Klostermann. One corner from the left leads to another, and ...
61 min: Felix drives at a hastily backtracking Leipzig back line. Reaching the box, he slips a pass down the left-hand channel for Lodi, who taps the ball past Upamecano, then falls, hoping for a penalty. But Upamecano had resisted the lunge just in time, and Lodi went over some fresh air. Lodi’s booked as a result.
59 min: Trippier curls in from the right. Costa shapes to hit a Zidane-style volley, but the ever-excellent Upamecano reads the danger and heads the dropping ball clear just in time.
58 min: The first change of the evening as Herrera is replaced by Joao Felix.
57 min: Upamecano is allowed to romp up the centre of the pitch, reaching shooting distance. He sends a pea-roller into the arms of Oblak. No harm done this time, but Atletico were uncharacteristically lax and asking for trouble there.
55 min: Olmo clips the heel of Niguez in the centre circle. Something else for Simeone to critique.
53 min: Trippier slips a pass infield from the right, releasing Llorente into a fair bit of space. He enters the box, but Upamecano comes across to make his presence felt, and Llorente loses control, allowing the ball to run through to Gulacsi, who smothers. An instant reminder that Ateletico have the attacking chops ... they just need the encouragement to show them.
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51 min: It’s fair to say the game needed that.
GOAL! Leipzig 1-0 Atletico Madrid (Olmo 50)
But Leipzig have had the better of it since the restart. They’ve kept hold of the ball a bit better, pinging it around patiently. Then, all of a sudden, Laimer slips a pass down the right. Sabitzer elegantly chips it inside, and Olmo guides a clever header across Oblak and into the bottom left! That’s a lovely team goal, and what a clever finish!
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48 min: It hasn’t taken long for the scrappiness of the first half to return.
46 min: Leipzig are immediately on the front foot, Nkunku trying to latch onto a poor clearing header by Trippier. But it doesn’t quite drop. Atletico swarm and clear properly this time.
Leipzig get the second half underway. No changes. We’re just 45 minutes plus stoppages from extra time ... unless someone can carve out a proper opportunity. And that’s not beyond the realms. Someone could do that.
Half-time entertainment. It’s the big summit meeting tomorrow evening. Here’s Andy Brassell with news of tomorrow’s match ... today!
HALF TIME: Leipzig 0-0 Atletico Madrid
Look at it this way: we’re 45 minutes closer to the pomp of the final / the joy of Christmas / the ultimate sweet release.
45 min +4: Carrasco has his ankle clipped by Klostermann out on the left. A free kick and a chance for Simeone to go wild again, waving his imaginary card to load the box. The free kick’s swung in and met by the bandaged head of Savic, who pings his effort harmlessly wide.
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45 min +2: Nkunku moves through a couple of gears and his sudden spurt earns a corner out on the left. Nkunku takes himself. Upamecano wins a header on the penalty spot and powers it goalwards ... but straight at Oblak. Either side and that was surely the opener.
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45 min: There will be four bonus minutes. And who would want this half of football to ever end?
44 min: Nowt is going on. I strongly suspect - and I’m not going too far out on a limb here - that Diego Simeone will be the happier of the two coaches at this state of affairs.
42 min: Laimer whips a glorious cross into the box from a tight spot out on the right. Trippier is forced to head out for a corner. Nothing comes of the set piece.
41 min: Some head tennis in the Atletico box, instigated by Poulsen. The ball drops to Laimer, just to the right of the six-yard box. Instead of directing his header goalwards from a tight angle, he nuts it back across the face of goal to absolutely nobody. Wrong choice.
40 min: And battle does recommence, with Upamecano dispatching Llorente into the hoardings behind the goal, conceding a corner by cleaning out both ball and man. No foul, strangely, and the resulting corner leads to nothing. This is good unclean fun, in a strange old-school way.
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38 min: Both players are good to continue, Savic’s head wrapped in bandages, Terry Butcher style. And even though this game was beginning to boil up, there’s no hard feelings after this particular incident, the pair exchanging smiles and a few words before battle recommences.
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37 min: Both trainers are currently stemming the flow of blood. Savic looks to have come off a little bit worse, with a big cut above his eye. Halstenberg’s wound is on top of his head, and he seems in much less pain.
35 min: Ooyah, oof! Savic and Halstenberg both go up for a high ball, all eyes trained on their orb of desire. As a result, they smash heads in mid-air at high velocity. That’s gotta hurt.
34 min: As a result, the actual play is a complete mess.
32 min: An edge is emerging, as we always knew it would. Olmo sneakily shoves Lodi off the pitch. Lodi rolls around, and his manager makes the card mime again, then sticks up eight digits as though to say “that’s his eighth foul”. The referee won’t be moved, though, and we play on again. But the temperature is rising.
30 min: Niguez rises highest in an aerial duel with Sabitzer, and plants his knee in his opponent’s back. It looked accidental, all part of an honest attempt to win the ball and another everyday foul, but now it’s the turn of Leipzig to raise Cain. The referee quite rightly tells everyone to pipe down.
28 min: Laimer nudges Lodi over with a boom-chicka of the hip. A saucy foul, albeit a garden-variety one in the midfield. On the touchline, Simeone waves the imaginary card, which is sauce of a completely different stripe. No need, really, but then again, would you have him any other way?
27 min: Carrasco Neymars a shot miles high and wide. All a bit hysterical. Atletico really haven’t done much in attack.
25 min: Savic blooters a clearance upfield. It smacks Gimenez on the elbow, just inside the box. Leipzig want a penalty, but they’re not getting one, and rightly so. They do get a free kick out on the right, though, Laimer bowled over by Lodi. Nkunku swings it in, but Halstenberg can’t get his head to it. Atletico clear.
24 min: A lot of space for Poulsen down the right. Another poor ball ruins everything, Klostermann just about stopping a heavy pass down the channel running out of play, Savic strolling across to clear.
22 min: Olmo drives at the Atletico defence, then slips wide left for Nkunku. Leipzig are two-on-one on that flank, but Nkunku’s pass down the channel for the overlapping Angelino is appalling and cleared by Trippier. Another fine situation messed up.
20 min: Carrasco steals away from Laimer and breezes off down the left. He’s clear, but upon reaching the byline his pullback is dreadful. It’s blocked, and comes back off Carrasco for a goal kick. That was a promising position for a couple of seconds.
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19 min: Herrera is clipped by Kampl out on the right, and it’s another free kick midway into Leipzig territory for Atletico. Carrasco swings it in. Halstenberg deflects it away from Niguez, who was racing in at the back post, preparing to slam a shot goalwards. A fine defensive intervention.
17 min: Kampl tries to send a rising diagonal shot into the top right from the best part of 30 yards. Full marks for ambition, if little else.
16 min: After a preposterous amount of time, VAR finally decides no crime has been committed, and we play on.
14 min: The corner’s swung in and met by Gimenez, whose powerful header clanks off the back of a nearby defender. Niguez tries to pick up the loose ball, but trips over his own feet while next to Gulacsi. Atletico want a penalty, though, and VAR is going to check.
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13 min: ... then break upfield, Carrasco exchanging passes with Lodi and creaming a shot towards the bottom left. Gulasci has to turn round the post. Fine save. Corner.
12 min: Upamecano strides forward elegantly before rolling a right-to-left pass towards Poulsen in the middle. Poulsen dummies, leaving it for Angelino, tearing in from the wing. Angelino smashes it, but only straight at Trippier. Atletico clear ...
10 min: Lodi hoicks the free kick long, and Savic attempts to guide a looping header into the top right. Gulacsi claims, though for a second it looks as though he’s misjudged the flight, getting under the ball, and nearly falls over his own goalline. He stops himself just in time.
9 min: All a bit scrappy now. Costa purchases a cheap free kick just inside the Leipzig half.
7 min: Lodi advances incrementally, yard by yard, a quarter of the way up the pitch while pretending to take a throw-in. When he eventually flings it in, Nagelsmann gesticulates in cold fury at the linesman. Nothing comes of the set piece, but Simeone will be pleased that his wily team have got under his opposite number’s skin already.
5 min: Simeone is already extremely animated on the touchline. His team haven’t started yet at all. They’re lucky Halstenberg couldn’t keep that shot down, because it would have removed the net from its moorings.
3 min: Sabitzer’s right-wing cross forces Atletico to concede an early corner. From the set piece, Olmo swings into the mixer, and the ball drops to Halstenberg, who blazes a fine chance high over the bar from eight yards. A strong start by Leipzig.
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2 min: Upamecano gently eases Costa away from the ball, much to the striker’s chagrin. He attempts to instigate a back-and-forth with the referee about it, but the official isn’t interested. This could be a very interesting duel.
Madrid get the ball rolling. They ship possession pretty quickly, allowing Leipzig to have the first significant feel of the ball. Nkunku briefly threatens to break down the left, but the space is closed in short order. Both teams represented in microcosm by the first 25 seconds or so.
Before kick-off, a minute’s solemn silence for the tragic victims of the Coronavirus. RIP.
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Here come the teams! Leipzig are in their first-choice white shirts and red shorts, which means Atletico sport an all-black change strip. We’ll be off in a minute or two!
Diego Costa: the debate. “Diego Simeone’s attention to detail is impressive,” begins Peter Oh. “The photo of the Atlético warm-up suggests that the players are practising that universal motion of disbelief at having witnessed a massive chance completely wasted. (See the PSG bench after Neymar missed that early sitter yesterday.)”
David L is more optimistic. “Simeone’s choice of Costa over Morata feels astute given the tournament format this year. Yes he’s a full-on red card liability (ask Emre for a reference) but he just might be the kind of rough-house goal pincher they need to get through to the semis. If he stays on the pitch of course.”
Round-of-16 retro MBM. Leipzig made it here by beating Spurs 1-0 away, and 3-0 back at their place. Atletico meanwhile did a number on Liverpool in Madrid, then another at Anfield. We present these in the spirit of entertainment or catharsis, depending on your viewpoint.
Leipzig opt to fill that big Timo Werner-shaped gap with Yussuf Poulsen. Emil Forsberg has to make do with a place on the bench.
A big decision up front by Atletico, too. No place in the starting XI for Alvaro Morata, as Diego Costa is given the nod.
The teams
RB Leipzig: Gulacsi, Klostermann, Upamecano, Halstenberg, Laimer, Sabitzer, Kampl, Angelino, Olmo, Poulsen, Nkunku.
Subs: Orban, Haidara, Forsberg, Adams, Lookman, Schick, Mukiele, Mvogo, Tschauner, Borkowski, Novoa, Wosz.
Atletico Madrid: Oblak, Trippier, Savic, Gimenez, Renan Lodi, Koke, Herrera, Saul, Carrasco, Llorente, Costa.
Subs: Adan, Arias, Thomas, Joao Felix, Morata, Lemar, Saponjic, Felipe, Vitolo, Hermoso, Manuel Sanchez, Moya.
Referee: Szymon Marciniak (Poland).
Preamble
Somewhere in the multiverse of infinite outcome and opportunity, a rerun of last year’s final between Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur will be played out tonight. But here on Planet Reality, the conquerors of the reigning champions and last season’s runners up face each other at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon for the right to play Paris Saint-Germain in next Tuesday’s semi-final.
Leipzig battered Spurs in the round of 16. Julian Nagelsmann’s exciting side won 1-0 in north London, then 3-0 back home, reaching the club’s very first European Cup quarter-final in style. Atletico meanwhile saw off Liverpool after weathering a second-half storm at Anfield, then putting their foot on the gas the minute opportunity arose in extra-time, a Diego Simeone masterclass.
Atletico can play a wee bit as well, of course. They’ve won the Europa League twice under Simeone, while falling a few seconds then a couple of penalties short of winning the big one against city rivals Real in 2014 and 2016. With all that experience and pedigree, they’re marginal favourites tonight. Especially as Leipzig are going into battle without their most dependable goalscorer, Timo Werner, who has controversially decamped to Chelsea.
But as you may have already read in your super soaraway Guardian, Leipzig have never been a one-man band. And while Simeone is undoubtedly one of the best managers in the world, his opposite number Nagelsmann is, at 33, regarded as the brightest of the up-and-coming. Also, Atletico have a small but cumbersome load on their shoulders: they’ve lost five of their last six against Bundesliga clubs outside Spain.
This, then, my dear MBM pals, is poised deliciously. Not least because it’s a one-off tie. It could go to extra time. It could go to penalties. It could explode with passion and drama. It’s on!
Kick off: 8pm BST, 8pm in Lisbon.
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