Diego Simeone’s side take a slender lead to Germany for the second leg of this quarter-final tie following a 2-1 victory tonight. We look back at the game on our Atlético Madrid vs Dortmund stats page.
Atlético Madrid may take a lead into the away leg of their UEFA Champions League quarter-final tie against Borussia Dortmund, but they will be disappointed it wasn’t more comfortable after a poor second-half performance tonight.
Tonight’s 2-1 victory means they have kept up their record of never losing a home knockout tie in the Champions League under Diego Simeone, with this their 17th such match (W11 D6). But Sébastien Haller’s late consolation means BVB head back to Dortmund with only a one-goal deficit.
The Ivorian striker’s goal was his 12th in just 13 UEFA Champions league appearances, but his first in the competition since February 2022 – much of that down to a long spell on the sidelines following his testicular cancer diagnosis only months after that strike against Benfica.
It had started so well for the home side, as they took only four minutes to open the scoring. Rodrigo De Paul finished inside the box with the outside of his boot after an awful defensive mix-up from Dortmund.
Goalkeeper Gregor Kobel dallied in possession before playing a poor pass into Ian Maatsen under pressure, with the defender’s heavy touch pounced upon by the Argentine for only his second competitive goal of the season and first in the Champions League since October 2022.
Less than half an hour later, another defensive mistake led to Atlético’s second goal of the night via wing-back Samuel Lino – his seventh of the season in all competitions, with all of them coming at the Cívitas Metropolitano.
Nico Schlotterbeck comically headed the ball onto the back of centre-back partner Mats Hummels, with the loose ball falling to playmaker Antoine Griezmann. The Frenchman played a perfect pass to Lino, who slotted past Kobel. The goal made up for a reckless foul from the Brazilian just five minutes earlier which he received a yellow card for, ruling him out of the second leg of this tie.
That assist was one of six chances created by Griezmann tonight, his most ever in a Champions League match and the most by an Atlético player in a knockout-stage game since Koke against PSV in March 2016 (8).
Atlético are now on 88 goals across all competitions in 2023-24, and this is already their most prolific season under Simeone since 2017-18 (96). They’ve never averaged more goals per game in a campaign under the Argentinian coach (1.96).
The second half saw Atlético batten down the hatches and try to frustrate Dortmund without offering much in attack themselves. Haller’s goal sets up an enticing second leg in Germany next week. It could have been even worse for the Spanish side had Julian Brandt’s header with the last action of the game not cannoned off the crossbar.
To emphasise the difference in Atlético’s attacking threat over the two halves, they had 21 touches in the Dortmund box before half-time and just six after it.
Dortmund are unbeaten in their last nine UEFA Champions League home games (W5 D4), last losing at Signal Iduna Park versus Ajax in November 2021. They’ll need a win in that match to progress to the semi-finals, but based on their fight back in this match, anything is possible.
Atlético Madrid vs Dortmund Timeline
Atlético Madrid vs Dortmund Stats Centre
Our live Opta match centre delivers you all the Atlético Madrid vs Dortmund from Wednesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own in-game and post-match analysis.
Atlético Madrid vs Dortmund Post-Match Facts
- Atlético de Madrid have won five consecutive UEFA Champions League home games for the first time since doing so between November 2017 and February 2019.
- Borussia Dortmund have lost nine of their last 11 away games in the UEFA Champions League knockout stages (D1 L1), and haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 13 such matches.
- Antoine Griezmann created six chances in this match – his most ever in a UEFA Champions League game (94th appearance), and the most by an Atlético de Madrid player in the knockout stages of the competition since Koke against PSV in March 2016 (8).
- All seven of Samuel Lino’s goals in all competitions for Atlético de Madrid this season have come at home. Only Andrea Colpani (8) has scored more this term with 100% of them coming in home games among players in the big five European leagues.
- This was Mats Hummels’ 500th appearance for Borussia Dortmund in all competitions, just the second player to reach that landmark for the club after Michael Zorc (572).
- Sébastien Haller has scored 12 goals in his 13 UEFA Champions League appearances, with his strike tonight his first in the competition for Borussia Dortmund.
- Only Manchester City (27) have scored more goals than Atlético de Madrid (21) in the UEFA Champions League this season. The Spanish side have scored in the first half in all five of their home games this term, though tonight was the first time they’ve not also scored in the second half.
- Six of Antoine Griezmann’s seven UEFA Champions League goal involvements for Atlético de Madrid this season have come in home games (5 goals, 1 assist), with only Bukayo Saka (7) having a hand in more home goals so far this term.
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