Red Bull Leipzig 2-1 Atletico Madrid
Red Bull Leipzig are through to the semi-final of the 2020 Champions League after an 88th-minute strike by substitute Tyler Adams sent Atletico Madrid home.
Champions League: Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid was a battle of the dark horses as two un-fancied sides came head to head. But make no mistake; when you reach the last eight of Europe’s premier competition then you have plenty of quality in your team.
The Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid highlights are well worth a watch for the 18 passes in the build-up to Leipzig’s opener, and equally, Joao Felix’s brilliant run which led to Atleti’s equaliser.
But Adams was the hero with his late, late strike to send Red Bull into the last four.
Highlights of the game
The Bundesliga side made the brighter start and had a glorious chance to go ahead with just four minutes on the clock. Atleti wing-back Kieran Trippier put the ball out for a corner, and when it was swung in Marcel Halstenberg volleyed over with the goal at his mercy.
Atleti didn’t take long to get into the tie either, and Stefan Savic tested Leipzig keeper Peter Gulacsi with a firm header. And then after a smart one-two with Yannick Carrasco, Renan Lodi stung the goalie’s hands with a fierce drive. From the resulting corner, Jose Gimenez had a header blocked before Gulacsi came off his line and seemed to trip Saul; but VAR adjudged it to be a fair and accidental challenge and there was no penalty given.
Saul had a chance to open the scoring after a speedy Atleti break but he screwed his shot wide of the near post. Simeone can be pleased with Los Rojiblancos’ strong end to the season and equally with his side’s efforts in the first half as they went in level with the upper hand as Savic headed just wide from a Lodi cross juts before the break.
Nagelsmann earned his money at half time though as his team came out for the second period the quicker and went ahead on 50 minutes with a well-worked goal. The Red Bull boys passed the ball smartly around the Atleti box and then out to Marcel Sabitzer and his well-aimed cross was nodded in by Dani Olmo, giving keeper Jan Oblak no chance.
Leipzig centre back Dayot Upamecano drove forward in search of a second and forced Oblak into a save with a powerful shot from 25 yards. Simeone had seen enough and brought Joao Felix on with just over half an hour to play. For all Atleti’s good football in the first half, after going behind they were starting to look short of ideas.
But the young Portuguese star did the trick, making his manager look good in the process, with a clever run into the box before being upended by Lukas Klostermann. There was no doubt in the ref’s mind and Felix climbed to his feet to drive the penalty past Gulacsi and into the net to level the scores.
But there was one more dramatic twist to come, with just two minutes remaining. Yussuf Poulsen got on the end of a brilliant flicked pass from Sabitzer and squared the ball for American midfielder Adams to drive past Oblak for the win.
Key statistics
The Leipzig vs Atletico Madrid betting odds had the German side as outsiders at odds of 2.86 and a win looked unlikely after 45 minutes. Los Rojiblancos were ahead in the shot count by five to four and two to one on target, and their attacks were more incisive. As the Bundesliga 2019/20 player stats reveal Timo Werner’s 28 goals contribution this season, Red Bull would have loved their former striker to be in their side.
But they recovered well, edging the shot count by ten to nine and four to three on target to inflict a first defeat on Atleti in 12 games.
What’s next?
A meeting with Paris Saint Germain awaits Leipzig after the Ligue 1 champions edged past Atalanta with a 2-1 win. It looked like Thomas Tuchel’s team was on the way out, trailing 1-0 on 90 minutes before Marquinhos and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored in injury time to break the Italian’s hearts.
We’ll be back here at SBOBET with all the pre-match news and action on the night, but for now Simeone’s team can take a break.
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