A wondergoal from Saul Niguez in the 12th minute gave Atletico Madrid a vital 1-0 win in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinal against Bayern Munich. The visitor's came close to an equalizer multiple times in the second half, hitting the woodwork along the way, but Atletico held on for the victory, giving them the advantage going into the second leg.
Lineups:
Diego Simeone replaced the injured Diego Godin with Stefan Savic, while Pep Guardiola surprised everyone by naming Thomas Muller on the bench, with Philipp Lahm breaking Oliver Kahn’s record of most appearances by a German in the UEFA Champions League.
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Atletico Madrid XI: Oblak, Juanfran, Giménez, Savi, Filipe Luís, Gabi, Fernández, Saúl Ñíguez, Koke, Griezmann, Torres
Bayern Munich XI: Neuer, Lahm, Martínez, Alaba, Bernat, Alonso, Vidal, Thiago Alcântara, Coman, Costa, Lewandowski
First Half
The 55000 fans at the Vicente Calderon drowned out the Champions League anthem with their chants and continued their cheers as Atletico Madrid got stuck in right from the off, with Saul Niguez testing Manuel Neuer with an early shot from range, although the German collected comfortably.
Neuer was left with no chance in the 11th minute, as Saul gave the hosts the lead with a brilliant goal. The Spaniard danced past Thiago, Xabi Alonso and Bernat on the right, before cutting inside with his left foot and curling the ball past a despairing dive from Neuer into the far bottom corner, sending the crowd at the Calderon wild.
Bayern equalized almost immediately, after Gimenez made a mess of his clearance, and Vidal’s header looked destined for the net, but Gimenez made amends by clearing off the line. The goal net was rippling in the 25th minute, as Douglas Costa almost caught out Oblak at his near post with a curling free-kick from the right, but the ball went wide, catching the side netting.
The Germans were screaming for handball moments later, as Lahm’s shot from the edge of the box caught Augusto Fernandez, but referee Mark Clattenburg waved appeals away. Griezmann nearly caught Bayern out on the counter on the half-hour mark, bursting away from the Bavarian’s defence but scuffed his shot with the angle closing, allowing Neuer to collect.
Bayern were dominating possession, but laked the cutting edge, with Kingsley Coman the culprit when he eschewed a wonderful chance to play in Lewandowski from a counter. Atletico nearly made Bayern pay in the 43rd minute, as Koke’s near post flick on from a left-wing cross seemed likely to catch out Neuer, but Martinez was on hand to clear, thus keeping the score at 1-0 going into the break.
Second Half
Atletico Madrid began the second half with a clear objective – not to concede. They began in the same manner, putting 10 men behind the ball as Bayern attacked with impetus. The hosts could only stand and watch in awe as David Alaba’s swerving, dipping bullet of a strike crashed off the bar in the 54th minute, with Oblak having no chance.
Javi Martinez came close with a header from a corner minutes later, but Oblak got down well to make a save. With Koman getting some joy down the wings, Bayern began to threaten anew, although it was Lewandowski who almost sneaked in an equalizer with a shot that flashed across goal in the 63rd minute.
An ingenious piece of skill from Costa nearly gave Bayern a precious away goal, with the Brazilian running on to a deflected clearance and lobbing Oblak in goal, but his effort went narrowly over. Vidal came close with a shot from range in the 74th minute, but Oblak palmed away his vicious strike away to preserve Atletico’s lead.
The hosts almost doubled their lead when Torres collected Koke’s pass on the counter, cut inside bamboozling a Bayern defender and curled the ball with his left foot, but watched in agony as the ball crashed against the bar, bringing back memories of the Torres of Liverpool.
Alaba had an effort fly over the bar as Bayern grew desperate heading in to the final 10 minutes. With Ribery and Muller now on the pitch, Atletico intelligently indulged in the dark arts, as Koke ‘earned’ a foul with Benatia tackling late, resulting in the players surrounding the referee and thus wasting time further.
As game came to an end, Diego Simeone indulged in some amateur conducting, imploring the crowd at the Calderon to make some noise. They were nearly silenced when Benatia connected from Ribery’s cross in injury time, and Vidal came close as well moments later.
However, Atletico held on for the victory, thus giving them the advantage going into the second leg.
