On Wednesday, the first leg matches of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals ended. The intriguing matches recorded a lot of competition and quite unexpected results.
At the "Wanda Metropolitano" stadium, Diego Simeone's team blocked the Turin-based "Juventus" team. In the second half, dominated by "Atletico" team in terms of opportunities created, they achieved a victory with a score of 2:0 and sent a serious message for the return match in Turin.
The first half started with cautious play from both teams. "Juventus" had slightly more possession of the ball, but it did not benefit them - after a rather dull first 45 minutes, the action moved to the second half, which was completely different from the first half of the match.
After the break, "Atletico" returned to the field in a completely different manner - D. Simeone's proteges started to play more aggressively in the opponents' half and had two good chances to break ahead early in the first half. Initially, Diego Costa failed to score when faced one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but a few minutes later, Antoine Griezmann hit the goal structure.
In the 58th minute, Alvaro Morata stepped onto the field and was the first to break through the defense of "Juventus." In the 70th minute, the striker scored a great header, but unfortunately for the "Atletico" team, after VAR review, a penalty was awarded to Giorgio Chiellini.
Even such a setback did not throw off the balance of the "Atletico" team - in the 78th minute, after a set-piece situation, "Wanda Metropolitano" stadium exploded in euphoria with a goal from Jose Gimenez.
As if that wasn't enough, after five minutes, the home team's advantage was increased in another set-piece situation by another defender - Diego Godin. The Uruguayan punished the "Juventus" goalkeeper with an excellent shot from a sharp angle with a little help from Cristiano Ronaldo.
There were no more significant events in the remaining time, and "Atletico" celebrated a well-deserved victory after the final whistle.
In other matches, there was even more drama - at Gelzenkirchen's home, after two penalty kicks, "Schalke" led 2:1, but even playing with ten men, the "Manchester City" team managed to salvage a win from Germany with a score of 3:2.
The clash started without major surprises - in the 18th minute, the visitors took the lead after a rough mistake by the opponents by Sergio Aguero. However, surprises then poured in Gelzenkirchen - during the first half, "Schalke" received two penalty kicks, which were successfully converted by Nabil Bentaleb, putting the hosts ahead.
In the second half, the situation for "Schalke" became even better when in the 68th minute, Nicolas Otamendi received his second yellow card and was sent off.
However, even playing with ten men, the "City" team did not lose hope and achieved a fantastic victory. In the 85th minute, Leroy Sane scored an amazing penalty kick into his former team's goal, and in the 90th minute, Raheem Sterling extended the lead after an impressive pass from Ederson.
The teams will play their return matches on March 12.
Results:
"Atletico" 2 - 0 "Juventus"
78' [1 - 0] J. Gimenez
83' [2 - 0] D. Godin
"Schalke" 2 - 3 "Man City"
18' [0 - 1] S. Aguero
38' [1 - 1] N. Bentaleb (penalty)
45' [2 - 1] N. Bentaleb (penalty)
85' [2 - 2] L. Sane
90' [2 - 3] R. Sterling
68' N. Otamendi ("Man City") sent off
