Saul wondergoal gives Atletico 1-0 win over Bayern

Madrid, April 28, (GNA/dpa) - Atletico Madrid did well to battle out a 1-0 home win over Bayern Munich Wednesday, in a tense, tight Champions League semi-final first leg.

The finalists in 2014, Atletico were looking for revenge against Bayern for a painful late defeat suffered against Munich in the 1974 final.

Bayern have won the competition five times, Atletico are still looking for their first triumph.

The only goal came in the 11th minute and was a memorable strike from Atletico youngster Saul Niguez, who beat several Bayern defenders before scoring with a precise curling shot.

Antoine Griezmann came close to making it 2-0 for Atletico in a vibrant first half in which the hosts had a cutting edge that Bayern clearly lacked.

Bayern completely dominated the second half but failed to break down a resolute Atletico defence. The closest that the visitors came to equalizing was in the 54th minute when left-back David Alaba hit the Atletico crossbar with a thumping 35-metre drive.

Atletico did well to restrict Bayern to a few half-chances, with Bayern striker Robert Lewandowski kept well away from the Atletico penalty area.

At the other end, a rare Atletico counter-attack saw veteran Fernando Torres hit the Bayern post. Thereafter, Diego Simeone's hosts were content to defend in depth and soak up the Bayern pressure.

Atletico defended superbly despite having defensive linchpin Diego Simeone out injured.

The second leg will be played in Munich on Tuesday.

Bayern last won the competition in 2013 but have crashed out against Spanish opposition - first Real Madrid then Barcelona - at the semi-final stage in the last two seasons.

Tuesday saw Real Madrid held 0-0 at Manchester City in the other semi-final first leg, which will be resolved in Madrid May 4.

GNA