Feb
25, 2015 21:39:00
Last season's Champions League
runners-up have it all to do in the second leg after a disastrous night at the
BayArena.
Hakan Calhanoglu's second half
stunner rocked 10-man Atletico Madrid and gave Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 first leg
lead in the last-16 of the Champions League.
The Turkey international's wonderful
strike proved enough to separate the sides at the BayArena,
with Karim Bellarabi instrumental in the build-up.
Leverkusen threatened in the first
half and saw Emir Spahic denied on two occasions, but they were grateful to
Bernd Leno for making two late saves to keep the score level.
Tiago was sent off for two bookable
offences late on to heap more misery on Atletico, who failed to score for their
second successive Champions League game.
Roger Schmidt's side will take a
narrow advantage to Spain for the second leg on March 17, knowing another clean
sheet will see them through to the quarter-finals.
Leverkusen came out of the blocks
quickly, dominating possession, but were unable to find a way through before
half-time, with Lars Bender wasting the first opening in the seventh minute.
Bellarabi led a swift counter-attack
for the hosts, but, when the ball found Bender he dragged his effort wide from
the edge of the area.
The visitors were grateful to Mario
Mandzukic five minutes later as he cleared Spahic's effort off the line after
the Bosnia defender had diverted Wendell's shot towards goal.
Spahic's attempts to score a first
Champions League goal continued as the half hour approached, with his
long-range strike cannoning back off Moya's crossbar.
Atleti had been quiet in the final
third inside the opening 40 minutes, but Leno needed to be alert to make two
saves before the break.
Having pushed away Arda Turan's lob
before Antoine Griezmann could head home, the goalkeeper made a superb reaction
save in stoppage time to keep Tiago's acrobatic volley out.
The deadlock was finally broken in
the 57th minute as Calhanoglu collected a sumptuous backheel from Bellarabi,
before lashing the ball high into Moya's net.
Calhanoglu nearly had a second after
71 minutes, as the forward's long-range free-kick took a wicked deflection, but
Moya was able to adjust and make the save.
As the game opened up in the final
20 minutes both sides had chances to score, with Torres - on for Turan just
past the hour - putting the ball into the net in the 75th minute, only for
referee Pavel Kralovec to rule it out.
Atletico finished the game, which
saw nine bookings in total, with 10 men when Tiago was shown a second yellow
for a foul on Bellarabi.
His dismissal added to the Liga
side's frustrations as they suffered their first Champions League defeat since
the opening group game.
