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 workforce stayed alive because of a late objective by substitute Sébastien Haller.
Dortmund threatened ultimately and twice hit the woodwork within the remaining minutes.
The second leg shall be performed subsequent Tuesday in Germany.
“We shall be prepared and hopefully we will put Atletico again within the semifinals of the Champions League,” De Paul mentioned. “We are going to give all now we have to guarantee that occurs, however we all know that it’s going to be difficult.”
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 seeking to return to the semifinals for the primary time since 2012-13, when it misplaced the ultimate to fellow German membership Bayern Munich.
“We have now to dwell with this outcome in the present day,” Dortmund captain Emre Can mentioned. “It’s not straightforward to play soccer right here as a result of they defend very properly. There have been phases the place they fully overpowered us within the duels. So we’ll take the 2-1 and every part 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 online from inside the realm.
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 they’d the ball and pushed us again,” Griezmann mentioned. “There have been moments once we might have scored a 3rd however the reality is that now we have suffered lots within the second half.”
Dortmund improved a bit within the second half and dominated ball possession, however it struggled to create many scoring alternatives towards Atletico’s strong defensive system.
The hosts had a couple of good possibilities so as to add to its first-half lead however didn’t capitalize on them, then noticed Haller — who has performed jiffy within the Champions League this season due to damage — pull Dortmund nearer with a shot from inside the realm within the 81st. It was his first Champions League objective with the German membership.
“We made too many errors, however extra essential to me is the response we confirmed,” Dortmund coach Edin Terzic mentioned. “Ultimately, a draw wouldn’t have been undeserved. Every part 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.
“If you end up up 2-0 it’s regular for the opposite workforce to start out enjoying higher,” De Paul mentioned. “We had our possibilities to attain extra targets as properly. Any win is at all times optimistic.”
Atletico has gained 29 of its final 32 residence 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 residence within the Champions League — with its final defeat coming towards Ajax within the quarterfinals in 1997.
Dortmund has gained solely one in every 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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