Chapter 928: The First Round Ends
"Just called Jorge, the injury is not serious, and you can recover after two to three weeks of rest" After returning to the dressing room, Simeone was the first to talk about Cork's injury.
Then the topic returned to the game, it is a pity that Atletico Madrid failed to score another goal in the last minute in the first half, if Atletico can score in the last minute of the first half, then the game will be completely over, and even this knockout round will be completely over.
'At the beginning of the second half, Bayer Leverkusen will definitely focus on defending, they need to recover their strength, and they can't watch the attack like in the first half, so in the first half of the second half, we have to finish the game completely.
Simeone's plan was good, but on the pitch a lot of things couldn't go according to the pre-arranged plans and tactics, just talk about the second half.
Just three minutes into the game, Simeone's plan was disrupted, because of a mistake in the first half, Siqueira was very positive in the second half, but his positivity caused him to leave the pitch early.
Injured, Atletico Madrid's second injured player of the game, Siqueira inserted an assist and was tackled by a Bayer Leverkusen defender again, and this fall did not get up again.
Although Siqueira was not seriously injured, there was definitely no way to stay on the pitch in this game, and Atletico were forced to make the second substitution of the game, with Gamès replacing Siqueira.
This brings a huge hidden danger to Atletico Madrid, because several people on the field of Atletico have yellow cards, and with only one substitution list left, Simeone does not dare to make adjustments casually, after all, two people are injured now, and another one is possible.
However, the hidden danger turned into tragedy, and in the 60th minute, a foul by Thiago turned two yellows into one red, and Atletico ended up with 10 men.
Atletico were forced to make a third substitution, Mandzukic was replaced by Suarez, and after this substitution, Atletico used up three substitutions, which means that no matter what happens next, Atletico will not be able to make any more adjustments.
After Atletico Madrid used up the last substitution, Leverkusen's side also began to adjust, changing two people in a row, Rathbender was replaced by Rolfes, and Atletico Madrid gave Leverkusen a warning this time with two yellows and one red.
Compared to Rathbend's defensive focus, Rolfes is more versatile and more suitable for the next Leverkusen tactics, and then the striker Dermic is replaced by Kiessling.
Kiessling is a typical German centre-forward, tall and capable of bouncing and heading, while Son Heung-min has also moved forward, and Bayer Leverkusen will have to make a last-ditch fight.
Retreat, fully retreat, the disadvantage in numbers is particularly obvious under Leverkusen's desperate efforts, that is, Lin Dong has to retreat near the center line.
In the 65th minute, Kiessling received a pass from a teammate and headed the ball, Son Heung-min flanked it and almost broke through the Atletico goal with a long-range shot.
Moya was a step slower to react, and the Atletico goalkeeper didn't expect Son Heung-min to shoot immediately, but the long-range shot was still a little bit worse in the end, and the ball grazed the post and flew off the bottom line.
Two minutes later, Bayer Leverkusen made a comeback, this time with Kiessling's own goal, and Leverkusen's cross from the flank was saved by Moya with a header from Miranda.
Although the ensuing corner kick still fell on Kiessling's header, it was Miranda who finally hit the ball, and the Atletico Madrid central defender was humiliated and cleared the ball with a header.
Atletico wanted to counterattack, but the ball was stopped by a foul as soon as it landed at Gabi's feet, because the foul was not serious, and after the Leverkusen defenders were in equal positions, there were two others who dragged at the end, and the referee only warned and did not take out the card.
As the saying goes, if you defend for a long time, you will lose, and no matter how good the defense is, it will not change this situation, not to mention that Atletico Madrid is still at a disadvantage in numbers.
In the 78th minute, Leverkusen attacked the hinterland of Atletico Madrid again, Bellabi, Leverkusen full-back had the second fastest speed in the game, and Leverkusen's attack relied on Bellarabi's speed.
Bellaraby moved down the flank, used her speed to shake off Ursar, and then slid past Garmez to the baseline and fired a high cross.
That's where Kiessling comes in, and before Kiessling didn't come on, Leverkusen's crosses weren't as many, and more were based on ground passes.
"Attack ~~~No~~~ Kiessling didn't hit the goal with a direct header, he chose to pass back, and the ball returned to the outside of the box, Calhanoglu."
"GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~~ The ball went in~~~ Bayer Leverkusen moved a goal back, Calhanoglu, Bayer Leverkusen youngster shot from a long distance on the line of the big penalty area."
"A perfect combination, Bellaby broke through the side and crossed the bottom, Kisling pressed Godin's header back, Calhanoglu scored from outside the penalty area, and Bayer Leverkusen chased the score to 1:2."
The half-time assault awaited this moment, and with Calhanoglu's goal, the Bayer Arena was plunged into a sea of revelry, and the Leverkusen fans could finally cheer after almost 80 minutes of patience.
Although Bayer Leverkusen is still one goal behind, this does not affect Leverkusen's celebration of the goal club, besides, there are still more than ten minutes left in the game, since you can chase one goal, it will not be too far away to chase two goals.
Well, it's not possible for the world to have everything go their way, just as Atletico were ready to finish the game in the first half of the second half, but in the end Siqueira's injury made it all go for naught, and now Bayer Leverkusen is no different.
Although Bayer Leverku pulled a goal back, they didn't know that they would not have a second goal until the end of the game, and even if they continued to attack, Atletico Madrid never gave Bayer Leverkusen a chance again.
Doing their best, in the following time, Atletico Madrid ushered in the most difficult ten minutes of the season so far, and Lin Dong even received the first yellow card of the season for participating in the defense.
Not to mention the others, Godin, Gámez plus Suarez, who came on as a substitute, in the last ten minutes, Atletico paid the price of four yellow cards, and finally withstood Leverkusen's attack,
In addition to Atletico's own efforts, the most important thing is Leverkusen's own problem, that is, their physical fitness, before that, Leverkusen's physical consumption was too great, and it was inevitable that he was a little slack mentally after scoring a goal.
Although Leverkusen still has a substitution, Schmidt once again emperors a striker, Son Heungmin replaced, Son Xingmin was very active in this game, but Leverkusen's really threatening attack basically has nothing to do with him.
In the end, the score remained 2:1 to full-time, and although Atletico Madrid was at an overall disadvantage from 60 minutes later, they still managed to win the victory in the end, and took a one-goal lead and two away goal advantages.