Atlético Madrid escapes and travels to Dortmund with minimal lead

Atlético Madrid has taken the first step towards the semi-finals of the Champions League. The Spaniards swirled in the first half and eventually defeated Borussia Dortmund 2-1. With the opening goal, Ian Maatsen made a glaring mistake with a dramatic wide ball. Rodrigo De Paul took full advantage and Samuel Lino also appeared on the scoreboard on behalf of the people of the capital. Substitute Sébastien Haller made it 2-1 and saw Jamie Bynoe-Gittens and Julian Brandt hit the crossbar in the final phase. The return in Signal Iduna Park takes place in six days.

There was only one Dutchman at the kick-off, Maatsen. Memphis Depay was recently injured during training, while Donyell Malen is ill and is also struggling with a thigh injury. Atleti coach Diego Simeone chose the striker pair Antoine Griezmann – Álvaro Morata. In the five-man midfield, Lino and Nahuel Molina had to provide the danger from the flanks. At Dortmund, striker Niclas Füllkrug was supported by Karim Adeyemi, Felix Nmecha and Jadon Sancho.

Atlético started the match excellently and fiercely. Maatsen was important at first by cleverly deflecting a shot from Morata, but made a serious mistake in the fourth minute. The Dutchman was clumsily passed by goalkeeper Gregor Kobel and then handed in to De Paul, who scored the 1-0 with a shot into the far corner. Atlético continued to persevere after the opening goal and appeared dangerously in front of Kobel on several occasions.

The goalkeeper made a nice save on an attempt from Axel Witsel in an offside position and Morata headed over from a corner. After half an hour, Atlético doubled its lead. Molina threw deep to Griezmann, who just missed receiving the ball but saw how Nico Schlotterbeck defended dramatically. Morata took over possession and served Griezmann, who in turn passed Lino with a nice chip ball. Lino kept a cool head and finished in the far corner: 2-0. A nice boost for Lino, who received a yellow card shortly before and therefore already knows that he will have to miss the return in Dortmund.

Dortmund was nowhere to be seen for a long time and only became really dangerous for the first time ten minutes before half-time through Adeyemi, after a mistake by De Paul. Adeyemi rushed towards goal and shot, but Witsel was back in time and prevented Jan Oblak from having to take action. Although that moment did not yield the desired result for Dortmund, it did signal the start of a better phase for the visitors. Maatsen almost made up for his mistake with a fiery shot towards the short corner, which Oblak was just able to get a hand behind. In injury time, Sancho shot just under a meter.

Dortmund coach Edin Terzic intervened and decided to leave Nmecha in the dressing room for Brandt. With the substitute inside the lines, Dortmund appeared more aggressive after the break and fired his first attempt through Marcel Sabitzer, which was neutralized by Oblak. Unlike in the first half, Atlético fell back en masse after the tea break. And with success, because Dortmund constantly came up against the red wall. Atlético's defensive intentions were confirmed by Simeone, who swapped defensively with Pablo Barrios for Morata.

Although Atlético mainly focused on defending, it regularly became dangerous on the counter. The Lino, who had been steaming along, fell just short of tapping in and the Brazilian star got another good chance moments later. This time he did get his foot behind the ball, but he came across Kobel in the short corner, who reacted cattily to the Atlético defender's effort. Almost out of nowhere, Dortmund came back into the match. Brandt played Haller and after an unconvincing action by Molina, Haller finished in the short corner: 2-1.

Both teams came close to scoring in the remainder. First of all, Ángel Correa should have done much more with his huge opportunity. The Argentinian stole the ball from Mats Hummels and came face to face with Kobel, who emerged as the winner. At the other end, substitute Bynoe-Gittens fired a fiery shot, which burst onto the crossbar via an Atlético defender. Just before the final whistle, Dortmund came close again, but Brandt's shot also hit the crossbar.

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