Atlético Madrid crawled through the eye of the needle in the Champions League on Tuesday evening. Diego Simeone’s team won in an extremely chaotic duel with three red cards from FC Porto (1-3) and therefore overwinters in the billion-dollar ball. The Portuguese do have a Europa League ticket, because AC Milan lost against Liverpool’s B-choice (1-2). The English superpower was already assured of group victory, while the Italians finish at the bottom of Group B.
FC Porto – Atletico Madrid 1-3
Within fifteen minutes, Luis Súarez had to drop out of Atlético with an injury. The Uruguayan left the field visibly shaken and could not hold back his tears once on the bench. Thomas Lemar had the chance to score the opening goal shortly afterwards, but the Atlético winger tapped goalkeeper Diogo Costa from close range. Marcos Llorente also failed to score in the rebound. FC Porto also made a serious attempt in the first half. It was Luis Díaz who produced a vicious shot in the penalty area, after which Jan Oblak intervened with a quick reflex.
???????????????????? ??????????? in Porto! ?? What’s going on here?! ??#ZiggoSport #UCL #PORATM pic.twitter.com/YdEHeofUyI
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) December 7, 2021
Immediately after the break, Mehdi Taremi had two great opportunities, but the FC Porto striker did not get the ball in both times. First Taremi tapped a cross from Otávio wide, then the Iranian saw a long shot blocked by Oblak. Against all odds, Atlético struck from a passed corner, which was tapped in by Antoine Griezmann at the far post: 0-1. Atlético ended up with ten men twelve minutes later due to a stupid action by Carrasco, who was shown red for grabbing Otávio. A few minutes later, Porto midfielder Wendell was also sent off in a new disturbance, because the Porto midfielder caught Matheus Cunha with his elbow. In the chaos, reserve goalkeeper Agustin Marchesin, who was on the bench at Porto, also received a red card.
In the ninetieth minute, Atlético decided the game in a counterattack. Griezmann sent Ángel Correa away, who shot in face to face with Diogo Costa: 0-2. Things got even worse for Porto when Chancel Mbemba lost the ball to Rodrigo de Paul, who finished 0-3 with some fortune after a one-two with Griezmann. Sergio Oliveira was allowed to make Porto’s honorary goal from the penalty spot, after Evanilson was tapped by Mario Hermoso: 1-3.
AC Milan – Liverpool 1-2
Liverpool entered a B-team in a match led by Danny Makkelie, leaving Virgil van Dijk behind in England. With Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané, the two eye-catchers of the Reds however, in the basic setup. After half an hour, Milan surprisingly took the lead, when a corner from Junior Messias suddenly went through. Alisson Becker put a hand behind it, but then saw Fikayo Tomori tap in from close range: 1-0. Liverpool put things in order through Salah, who also scored from a rebound. That happened after a hard shot by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, which was poorly processed by Mike Maignan: 1-1.
Problems for AC Milan ?? 2-1 for Liverpool by Divock Origi and with Atlético in the lead, they really have to work now??#ZiggoSport #UCL #MILLIV pic.twitter.com/w105NKmhQc
— Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) December 7, 2021
Liverpool were helped into the saddle ten minutes after the break by Tomori, who lost the ball to Mané. Liverpool’s left attacker hit the post, after which Divock Origi headed in the rebound: 1-2. After that, too, the best chances were for the goalscorer, but the Belgian was unable to score again from a tap and a new header. Franck Kessié saw a shot being turned by Alisson on the other side.