Europa League: Atletico Madrid vs. Leverkusen – Full Time Report (Part 1)
The match was to be a thriller as both the sides were evenly matched. The Spanish side Atletico Madrid was to entertain the German team Leverkusen. Both the teams had almost the same history in terms of winning titles. However,
the Spanish side has won the Spanish La Liga at least once while Leverkusen never won it. However, their best time came during the 2001-2002 season when they managed to reach the final match of the UEFA Champions League but couldn't really win it. They also
lost the German Bundesliga with only a single point that year.
The Spanish side won the Europa League last year after defeating the underdogs Fulham who came out as true black horses of the tournament and managed to defeat teams like Juventus on their way to the final match of the Europa League.
Atletico Madrid were playing a very strong side as they introduced their side on their home ground. The "best" young goalkeeper in Europe, De Gea was standing between the two poles and was the goal stopper for the Spanish team.
He was being assisted by 4 defenders; the newly signed Filipe Luis, who was playing as a left back, along with Tomas Ujfalusi who managed to injure Lionel Messi during the home game against Barcelona. The other centre back was Alvaro Dominguez while the right
back was Luis Amaranto Perea. The former Valencia manager featured a classical 4-4-2 with Diego Forlan and Diego Costa featuring as the strikers. Raul Garcia and Paulo Assuncao featured in the midfield and they were assisted by two wingers, Jose Antonio Reyes
and the Portuguese player Simao.
As the Spanish side introduced such a strong side while playing on their home ground, the German team played quiet a tough team as well. Rene Alder was the goalkeeper for the German club who was being assisted by Manuel Friedrich,
Michal Kadlec, Daniel Schwaab and Sami Hyypia at the back. The German side were playing a traditional 4-4-2 as well and Hanno Balitsch was seen in the centre midfield along with Arturo Vidal Padro. Tranquillo Barnetta and Stefan Reinartz played as wingers
while Eren Derdiyok and Sidney Sam featured as the two strikers for the club.
The match started off on Spanish soil with a great atmosphere surrounding both the teams while the Spanish supporters were jam packed in the stadium to support the champions of the Europa League.
In the 9th minute, the Spanish team started to become a threat to the German side as they started to take advantage of the home ground and the home crowd. Raul Garcia found Antonio Reyes with a chipped pass. The former
Arsenal man tried to cut in to score a goal from the right flank but the German defence was too strong for him and he was well denied inside the penalty area.
Sami Hyypia was booked early in the 11th minute of the game as his challenge on the Spanish striker Diego Costa was simply too late and mistimed. The home side earned an early free kick 30 yards from goal but the free
kick taken by Diego Costa did not result in anything.
Sam wasn't really chosen to start before the game but his sudden inclusion was a shock to all the German team's fans as he was not expected to play for them. However, he was living up to the expectations and was being a threat
to the Spanish defence. He got a chance during the 21st minute but right before he shot the ball towards the goal, the Spanish defender Domniguez came in his way to deny the shot.
The first half looked to be very dry as most of the game was concentrated on the centre of the pitch as both the sides struggled to pass the defensive lines of each other. After the half hour mark, both the clubs were still struggling
to score a goal but there was no breakthrough. However, during the 33rd minute Vidal got an opportunity. However, Vidal struck it onto Perea and won a corner that resulted into nothing.
The breakthrough did finally come during the 39th minute, when the German player Schwaab bombed in from the right flank and the right back managed to strike the ball towards the goal but the ball was deflected out for
a corner.
The corner was taken by Barnetta from the left side and the ball delivered by him found Hyypia's head. The header only managed to find the pole but the deflected ball found Eren Derdiyok's stronger foot who made no mistake and
calmly finished the ball into the net to put the German side ahead.
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