Atletico Madrid are close to reaching the last-four of the 2023/24 Champions League semifinal following a narrow 2-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund in Spain, MySportDab reports.
The LaLiga giants were set to coast to victory against Borussia Dortmund as they got off proceedings with an aggressive play that kept the visitor on a tight leash.
Four minutes into the game, Rodrigo de Paul secured the first blood to the hosts. Chelsea loanee to Dortmund, Ian Maatsen, made a horrendous defensive error that led to the goal.
Maatsen’s square pass was flicked to de Paul who fired a low shot from inside the box to put the hosts in front.
Despite leading by the lone goal, the Diego Simeone-led side were still on ascendancy going forward.
Two minutes after the half-hour, Samuel Lino got the ball into the back of the net for the hosts’ second goal. The Brazilian picked up Antoine Griezman’s phenomenal scooped pass and fired a low shot past Kobel to make it 2-0.
Despite going down by two goals, Borussia Dortmund did little to mount a comeback and they ended the first half with the two-goal deficit.
It was a tighter affair in the second half as Borussia Dortmund emerged with an improved performance.
It was still barren with 80 minutes spent before Sebastian Haller finally got one back for the visitors in the 81st minute.
BVB looked set to claw their charges back into the game after Haller’s goal. They made a late concerted push to find an equaliser.
Julian Brandt came close to nailing home the leveler but had his late header ricochet off the woodwork.
Atletico Madrid finally staved off the late pressure to secure the 2-1 lead and ran out with victory after the final whistle.
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