Atletico Madrid proved their defensive prowess yet again as they grabbed a narrow 1 – 0 win against Bayern Munich even after Griezmann managed to miss a penalty.
The match started with a mild pace with both the teams looking to carve out chances but with patience. Atletico had a better opening and tried to spin out some opportunities in the opening 15 minutes but they didn’t come to fruition.
Bayern and Atletico continued to attack, with Muller giving a save from Jan Oblak and Manuel Neuer denying Carrasco in the 13th and 18th minute, respectively.
Torres was at his usual worst again when he missed a header from 3 yards where he was unmarked in the 21st minute. Typical.
The deadlock was broken by Atletico as Griezmann fed the ball to Carrasco, who dashed and hit it hard into the back of the net, past the reach of the German shot-stopper, Manuel Neuer.
It was a deserved lead for Atletico, nonetheless. 31 minutes played and Aletico led Bayern by a goal. Game on.
Minutes later, it was Ribery, who had looked like a 25 year old in a 33 year old body with his pace and strength, missed a chance from 10 yards.
Things just weren’t quite working out for Bayern Munich as they found it hard to breach Atletico’s defence and big guns like Robert Lewandowski, David Alaba and Arturo Vidal were not firing on all cylinders.
Bayern continued to push forward and Atletico kept denying them spaces and wingers like Robben and Ribery were well controlled by the rock solid defense of Atletico Madrid.
Jerome Boateng, who hadn’t looked fit, was substituted to bring in Mats Hummels and minutes later, Carrasco was substituted for Gameiro.
Misery kept on increasing for Bayern as Lewndowski missed a header from 10 yards out after CA Alonso whipped in a stunning ball.
Further chances of a win were spoilt for Bayern as Atletico were awarded a penalty in the 83rd minute. Luckily for them, Antoine Griezmann missed it as he hit his shot straight at the bar.
There was nothing much to report except that a shot by Kevin Gameiro hit the side netting in the 92nd.
Cometh the final whistle, it was game. Set. Match.
Atletico had won and Simeone had yet again grinded a result against another top team. Will their campaign last? We’ll see in the return leg.
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