MADRID (AP) — Atletico Madrid moved nearer to returning to the Champions League semifinals with a 2-1 win over Borussia Dortmund within the first leg of the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
Atletico took a first-half lead with targets by Rodrigo De Paul and Samuel Lino and outplayed Dortmund throughout a lot of the match, however the German staff stayed alive because of a late purpose by substitute Sébastien Haller.
Dortmund threatened ultimately and twice hit the woodwork within the remaining minutes.
The second leg will probably be performed subsequent Tuesday in Germany.
“We will probably be prepared and hopefully we are able to put Atletico again within the semifinals of the Champions League,” De Paul mentioned. “We’ll give all we’ve got to guarantee that occurs, however we all know that it’s going to be sophisticated.”
Within the different quarterfinal on Wednesday, Barcelona gained 3-2 at Paris Saint-Germain of their first-leg match.
Atletico hasn’t made it to the final 4 since 2017, when it misplaced to metropolis rival Actual Madrid. The Spanish membership has gained three of its final six quarterfinals.
Dortmund, the 1997 European champion, is trying to return to the semifinals for the primary time since 2012-13, when it misplaced the ultimate to fellow German membership Bayern Munich.
“We now have to reside with this outcome at the moment,” Dortmund captain Emre Can mentioned. “It’s not simple to play soccer right here as a result of they defend very nicely. There have been phases the place they utterly overpowered us within the duels. So we’ll take the 2-1 and the whole lot is open for subsequent week.”
Atletico wanted solely 4 minutes to open the scoring on the Metropolitano Stadium, with De Paul making the most of a mistake by the Dortmund protection to steal possession and discover the web from inside the world.
Lino doubled the lead within the thirty second after an help from Antoine Griezmann, who was held scoreless once more however was named the person of the match.
“I’m undecided you may say we had been superior as a result of within the second half that they had the ball and pushed us again,” Griezmann mentioned. “There have been moments after we may have scored a 3rd however the reality is that we’ve got suffered rather a lot within the second half.”
Dortmund improved a bit within the second half and dominated ball possession, nevertheless it struggled to create many scoring alternatives in opposition to Atletico’s strong defensive system.
The hosts had a couple of good possibilities so as to add to its first-half lead however did not capitalize on them, then noticed Haller — who has performed couple of minutes within the Champions League this season due to damage — pull Dortmund nearer with a shot from inside the world within the 81st. It was his first Champions League purpose with the German membership.
“We made too many errors, however extra vital to me is the response we confirmed,” Dortmund coach Edin Terzic mentioned. “In the long run, a draw wouldn’t have been undeserved. The whole lot stays open.”
Dortmund hit the crossbar with a long-range shot by Jamie Bynoe-Gittens within the 87th and a header by Julian Brandt deep into stoppage time.
“When you’re up 2-0 it’s regular for the opposite staff to begin taking part in higher,” De Paul mentioned. “We had our possibilities to attain extra targets as nicely. Any win is all the time constructive.”
Atletico has gained 29 of its final 32 dwelling video games throughout all tournaments. It was Simeone’s fiftieth Champions League win.
The outcome stored Atletico unbeaten in 18 knockout-round video games at dwelling within the Champions League — with its final defeat coming in opposition to Ajax within the quarterfinals in 1997.
Dortmund has gained solely considered one of its final 11 away matches within the knockout levels of the Champions League.
Mats Hummels made his five hundredth look for Dortmund.
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