For this game, it is widely believed that Atletico can at least remain unbeaten away from home, and ideally have a chance to score an away goal.

Bayer Leverkusen have only conceded six goals in the league, and in the eyes of some, it is because it is the Bundesliga, and if it is placed in La Liga, the Premier League or Serie A, it will definitely not happen.

In recent years, Atletico Madrid, under the leadership of Simeone, has achieved remarkable results in both the league and the Champions League.

Last season, they reached the final of the Champions League only to lose to Real Madrid on penalties.

In addition, Atletico have not conceded a goal for 524 consecutive minutes prior to the start of this game.

The starting line-ups for both sides, as usual, were not announced until just before the game.

For Bayer Leverkusen, with Toprak suspended and not in the squad, and Jedewai also out due to injury, Schmidt put on his usual 4231 formation, which is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Jose.

Defenders: Wendell, Spašić, Papadopoulos, Hilbert.

Two midfielders: Russ Bender, Castro.

Attacking defenders: Son Heung-chou, Calhanoglu, Belarabi.

Center: Dermic.

In addition, Rolfeth, Kiessling, Brandt and others sat on the bench.

As for Atletico Madrid, Simeone put on a 442 formation, and the specific list is as follows:

Goalkeeper: Moya.

Defenders: Siqueira, Godin, Miranda, Juanfrán.

Midfielders: Saul, Thiago, Gabi, Alda Turan.

Forwards: Antoine Griezmann, Mandzukic.

In addition, there are Garmes, Raul Garcia, Torres and the likes of second goalkeeper Oblak on the bench.

Simeone's selection of the starting 11 has an average age of 28 years and 260 days, setting a record for Atletico's oldest starting XI in the Champions League.

This also adds to the topic of this game, whether Atletico Madrid is more experienced, or Schmidt's youth storm is better.

At 20:45 local time in Germany, the game began with a whistle from the referee.

Dermic tees the ball first and passes straight back to Bender.

Bender passes back to Spašić again.

And Spašić passed to Wendell.

Wendell didn't have a chance to push forward, so he had no choice but to pass back to Jose.

Jose took the ball and shifted it to Hilbert.

Hilbert advances with the ball.

Bayer Leverkusen organised the first wave of attacks.

It's a pity that Bellabi's cross was destroyed by the opponent out of the penalty area, and Atletico turned to attack.

Thiago picked up the ball at the back and quickly passed through the midfield with a big foot, and the ball was passed to the feet of Antoine Griezmann.

Antoine Griezmann advanced with the ball and Mandzukic covered by his side.

Outside the penalty area, Griezmann crosses to Saul, who is plugged in.

Saul burst into the left side of the box and crossed back to Griezmann.

From 12 yards out in the box, Antoine Griezmann fired a direct volley.

The ball turned into a white light and flew towards the top of the center of the goal.

Jose jumped on the spot and didn't touch the ball.

Antoine Griezmann's shot went high.

In just two minutes, both sides completed an attack each.

At this time, the broadcast camera was given to the audience, and it turned out that Heynckes and Barlack had come to watch the game.

Jose kicked the ball in goal, and the pharmaceutical factory attacked again.

Overall, the pharmaceutical companies were more attacking and had more possession than Atletico Madrid, who were playing away.

It's just that it has always been difficult to break through Atletico's defence.

In the first ten minutes, the pharmaceutical company failed to complete a single shot on goal.

In the 12th minute, the pharmaceutical company got the first corner opportunity of the game.

Corner kick from the right side, Calhanoglu is in charge.

drove directly into the penalty area and was directly knocked out by Atletico goalkeeper Moya with a single punch.

However, the ball is still under the control of the pharmaceutical players.

On the edge of the box, Wendell volleyed a left-footed volley that bounced off the ground.

Spasic volleyed in from eight yards out.

Unfortunately, it was cleared by Mandzukic on the goal line.

The ball was at the feet of Antoine Griezmann and he had a one-on-one chance.

Griezmann ran wildly with the ball, and in the blink of an eye he was already outside the penalty area of the pharmaceutical factory.

In the face of Griezmann, who came alone, Jose was not afraid at all and decisively chose to attack.

With three metres still in the distance, Griezmann was ready to change direction and get past Jose.

However, Jose would not give him a chance at all, and directly used the "space-time pause".

All that can be seen is Jose sprinting straight towards Griezmann and stabbing the ball away from his feet before he can react.

The home fans immediately gave them a round of applause.

Previously, Jose used to crouch in the box most of the time.

But since seeing Neuer's 30-metre strike, Jose has a new perspective on the attack.

Attacking from a long distance will certainly cause the goal to be empty, but Jose has a plug-in, coupled with his running speed, even if the attack fails, he can completely do it quickly.

Keeping the ball away from your own goal is the best option in defence.

After disrupting Griezmann's one-on-one goal, Jose ran back as soon as possible.

By the time Atletico organised the attack, Jose had already returned to the six-yard box.

Atletico missed a great opportunity.

The game continues.

In the 22nd minute, Jose split the ball to form a quick counterattack.

Dermic sprinted forward and was brought down by Thiago in the centre circle.

Thiago ruined the Pharmaceuticals' quick counter-attack and picked up the first yellow card of the game.

A minute later, the pharmaceutical company nearly broke the door.

Outside the left side of Atletico's penalty area, 30 yards away, Spašić swooped in with a cold arrow.

The ball flew towards the top left corner of the goal.

Moya pounced, but did not touch the ball.

Did the ball go in?

However, it didn't, the ball hit the crossbar and was blocked.

Atletico escaped.

In the 30th minute, Saul took the ball, and just as he was about to advance, a figure approached quickly.

It turned out to be Calhanoglu.

Calhanoglu made a direct tackle on Saul, first shoveling the ball and then bringing Saul down by the way.

Saul fell to the ground on the spot.

The referee temporarily stopped the game and then called the team doctor to come in for treatment.

Simeone saw that Saul was tackled, but Calhanoglu had nothing to do, and immediately expressed his displeasure to the referee: "This is not a card? It's obviously a deliberate foul. ”

Hearing Simeone's words, Schmidt did not show weakness, and immediately replied: "What deliberate foul? Are you blind? Obviously, it was our people who touched the ball first. ”

"He did touch the ball first." The referee explained.

However, the referee's explanation did not satisfy Simeone, and his assistant Burgos joined the team.

Seeing that it was about to get out of control, the referee was about to take the cards out of his pocket and say to everyone on the sidelines: "Are you doubting my eyes? ”

Seeing this, everyone shut up.

The sideline hiccups passed quickly.

After being treated by the team doctor, Saul returned to the game.

The game continues.

As time went on, the movements of both sides began to get bigger.

In the 36th minute, Mandzukic won the ball on the wing.

Just as Mandzukic was about to cut inside with the ball, Papadopoulos tackled him directly and brought the ball down on the touchline.

Papadopoulos received his second yellow card of the game.

In the 38th minute, Simeone made a passive substitution, and Siqueira was replaced by Games due to injury.

A minute later, Atletico had a good chance to open the scoring.

Turan lobbed a cross from the right side of the box and passed the ball to Antoine Griezmann.

From five yards out, Antoine Griezmann headed straight at goal, his head flicked and the ball flew towards the top left corner of the goal.

At this time, Jose was in the right position of the goal in order to block Turan.

Antoine Griezmann's header was quick, and it was in the top left corner.

For a normal goalkeeper, this goal would be a must-score.

Thankfully, José was prepared for both.

When I saw Turan's pass, I already knew the opponent's intentions.

Use plug-in stunts decisively.

In this kind of crucial game, as long as he is not 100% sure of the save, Jose will not hesitate to use the plug-in.

In the end, Jose lifted the ball off the line with one hand.

Atletico win a corner on the left side of the pitch.

From a corner, Thiago tries to get the ball to the back of the box.

However, the corner kick was not high enough and was directly confiscated by Jose.

Jose threw away the goal kick and passed it to Hilbert.

Hilbert's through pass from the wing was blocked off the touchline by Saul.

After blocking the ball, Saul raised his hand to signal that he couldn't hold on.

Simeone had no choice but to replace Saul, who had performed very well, and Raul Garcia came off the bench.

Simeone's team has long been known for their daring to scramble, and he has earned him the title of bandit coach.

However, today, with the more ferocious Schmidt, Atletico has become a passive side?

The answer was unexpected, and the Bayer Leverkusen players fought fiercely, but their movements were extremely clean.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Atletico attacked again in the box.

On the right side of the penalty area, Turan received a pass from a teammate and pushed it directly into the near corner.

In the face of Turan's shot, Jose stretched out his left foot and at the same time sank to block the entire bottom left corner of the goal.

Turan's shot was ultimately blocked by Jose.

However, the crisis in the pharmaceutical factory has not been resolved.

The ball rolled to Thiago's feet.

From eight yards in front of goal, Thiago volleyed sideways and shot in style.

The ball slashed in the air and flew towards the top of the center of the goal.

"If you let this ball score, won't I be the backdrop?" An indescribable force welled up in his heart, and José bounced up on the spot and leapt towards the center of the goal.

There was no danger, Jose single-handedly lifted Thiago's volley directly out of the bottom line and completed two consecutive saves.

The pharmaceutical company avoided conceding a goal before half-time.

Atletico were awarded another corner.

The corner kick is taken and driven to the near post.

The first drop was reached by Sparšić and went straight out of the penalty area.

It's still Atletico who have the ball.

Turan took the ball, crossed diagonally into the box, and found Mandzukic accurately.

From 15 yards out, Mandzukic took the ball in the middle of the net.

It's a pity that the angle was too positive, and it was confiscated directly by Jose.

In the end, the first half was tied 0-0.

Although Atletico Madrid had two players injured in the first half, it was they who actually committed the most fouls.

The statistics show that in the entire first half, Atletico committed a whopping 14 fouls, while the pharmaceutical company only had three.

Who is the most aggressive team?

(End of chapter)