Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid met once again for the seventh time this season for the Quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night. Both teams came out strong and creating many opportunities enough to make the fans get out of their seats. Atletico Madrid was able to once again hold of their city rivals to a tie as they continued to be undefeated against Real Madrid this season.
Both teams had their star players out in the field as they played on Tuesday night. Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez and Gareth Bale were all in the starting XI while Mario Mandzukic, Antoine Griezmann, Arda Turan, and Raul Garcia all started for Atletico Madrid. Neither team was able to get past their goalkeeper as both Jan Oblak and Iker Casillas were unstoppable in front of their net. One player who had a rough time though was Mandzukic who not only took an elbow in the face by Sergio Ramos and a bite and punch by Dani Carvajal but also received a yellow card. Mandzukic played the second half with a bloody face and had to endure the cut that the elbow by Ramos caused.
Another talk is the bite that Carvajal gave to Mandzukic as both went on a hefty battle inside the danger zone during the second half of the match. Whether or not FIFA takes this into consideration, many people will be talking about it and waiting to see if Carvajal will get a punishment for his actions.
A couple of chances were created by both teams and Carvajal had the first sense of danger in the early minutes of the game. A pass from James gave Carvajal the chance to go for goal in which went straight for goal but also into the hands of Altetico Madrid’s goalkeeper, Oblak. Bale also had a chance in the third minute as a mistake by Diego Godin gives Bale the opportunity to go one on one with Oblak only to see Bale’s shot blocked by Oblak. Bale had another chance in the 31st minute when a long range shot was parried away by Oblak once again.
James Rodriguez had another chance in the 37th minute when a curled shot with his weak foot seem like it was going to go in the bottom right side of the net but Oblak timed his dive right and saved Atletico Madrid once again. The first opportunity for Atletico came in the 38th minute when a mistake by Real lands the ball right in front of Griezmann, who spins and shoots for goal but Casillas was there to smother the ball and save Real Madrid.
The second half brought more chances for Atletico Madrid but closer to the end of the game. Atletico seemed to have stepped it up in the second half but could not get anything going. In the 81st minute, Turan made a nice run from midfield in which we saw him take about three defenders down the field but his final ball was cleared away by Casillas as no one was there to finish the play. Fernando Torres had a chance in the danger zone when a ball from a corner kick landed in front of him and as he went for goal, Ramos was there to save his team and clear the ball.
The game ended scoreless for the first leg of the UEFA Champions league quarterfinals between these two city rivals. Both Marcelo and Mario Suarez were shown a yellow card during the match and will be missing the second leg of the quarterfinals held at the Santiago Bernabeu. Atletico Madrid will look to continue their undefeated streak next Wednesday night as they face Real Madrid for the second leg. They will have to step it up as the Santiago Bernabeu is a hard stadium to play at.
The man of the match goes out to Jan Oblak, goalkeeper of Atletico Madrid, as he became the hero for his team many times, saving Atletico from falling behind during the match. Hopefully he continues his great form in the second leg and helps his team advance to the semi-final round.
Photo by: Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images
