Atletico Madrid Fires Past Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 in a clash of Champions League Group D leaders at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday.

Yannick Carrasco’s lone goal lifted the 2016 runners-up to a second straight defeat of the German champs at the Vicente Calderon, where Diego Simeone’s men beat the Bundesliga side in their UCL semifinal first-leg tie last campaign, before eliminating them from the tournament in Munich.

Atleti, normally known for their tight defence, surprisingly brought the game to Carlo Ancelotti’s side, dominating the ball for sustained periods of play and creating the better of the chances throughout, beginning with Fernando Torres forcing a desperate block from Javi Martinez minutes into the match after the Bayern defender lost possession just outside his own box.

Thomas Muller forced a fine save from an alert Jan Oblak on 13 minutes — his well-struck volley from just outside the six-yard box stinging the hands of the Atleti goalkeeper before being hustled away from danger.

Fernando Torres hit the side netting in the 34th minute, slipping as he tried to wrap his left foot around his shot from eight yards out.

However Atleti struck just a minute later through Carrasco. The Belgium international collected an Antoine Griezmann pass in the left channel, dragged the ball onto his left foot and, with a defender closing, fired his shot across Manuel Neuer, off the far post and into the net from just outside the semi-circle.

Bayern nearly answered in the 39th, but Franck Ribery pulled his shot inches wide of the near post after finding himself in space to the left of the six-yard box.

The La Liga side looked comfortable in possession and defence for the first 25 minutes of the second half, before Bayern piled on the pressure soon after.

Griezmann looped a contested header just over the bar from close range on 75 minutes after a swift Atleti counter-attack but Bayern piled on the pressure soon after.

Ribery then saw his shot from the top of the box blocked moments later, and Robert Lewandowski flashed a header wide of Oblak’s net in the 78th minute from a good position.

Atletico won a penalty when a reckless Arturo Vidal crashed into Filipe Luis on the left side of the box. However Griezmann’s shot from the spot hit flush off the crossbar and back into play.

-espnfc