Madness In Madrid, Atlético Madrid 2-1 Borussia Dortmund

Samuel Lino of Atletico de Madrid is celebrating his goal during the Champions League match between ... [+] Atletico de Madrid and B. Dortmund at Civitas Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain, on April 10, 2024.

Borussia Dortmund lost 2-1 tonight, but they will be happy knowing that they return to Germany just one goal behind their Spanish opponents, who at one stage looked like running away with this encounter.

Perhaps the absence of Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland and Jude Bellingham took a lot of attention away from this tie, but it always seemed like it would be the closest encounter out of all this week's European Cup quarter-finals. Both Atlético Madrid and Borussia Dortmund have had their backs against the wall domestically this season, so what better way to salvage the campaign than fighting for the ultimate prize of European glory?

As expected, the Metropolitano was a cauldron of noise waiting to boil over, and it wouldn’t take long. A hostile atmosphere that has been welcoming to no visitor; Atlético have literally never lost a home Champions League knock-out match here. The home team were met by thousands of fans and hundreds of flares as their bus climbed the road up towards the Metropolitano stadium, and the spring sun only helped the party mood.

Dortmund looked to start the game off with their foot on the ball, but they were instantly carved open by an Atléti counter. Antoine Griezmann split open the flailing Borussia backline with a delightful pass but Álvaro Morata saw his effort on goal blocked. It wouldn’t matter though, as what felt like just seconds later Rodrigo de Paul pounced on a loose ball around the edge of the box and slipped in the opening goal for the hosts.

Atlético maintained the pressure on Dortmund and it felt like a second goal was inevitable. Axel Witsel saw his flick wonderfully denied by keeper Gregor Kobel, but the home momentum didn’t cease. The visitors were suffocated on the ball, and the opponents half must have seemed like an oasis in the desert for the German side. More sloppy play nearly saw Griezmann score a second in the 14th minute.

Dortmund simply could not connect with the forward line. Whenever they did break the Atlético Madrid midfield the ball simply didn’t stick and would come right back at them. A bit of nifty footwork and a low driven cross from Jadon Sancho on the half-hour mark brought Dortmund a corner, and a first attempt, but just two minutes later the hosts had doubled their lead.

Samuel Lino of Atletico de Madrid is celebrating his goal during the Champions League match between ... [+] Atletico de Madrid and B. Dortmund at Civitas Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid, Spain, on April 10, 2024.

Atléti found themselves in on goal yet again, thanks to a mix-up between two Dortmund defenders. Griezmann scooped a pass to Samuel Lino, who found himself in acres of space inside the Borussia box. The winger made no mistake, opened his body up, and sent the ball into the far corner to send the home fans wild.

From that moment on; the Atlético block seemed to retreat ever so slightly, and Dortmund finally came into the game and created some openings. The half-time whistle blew but perhaps the flow of those moments foreshadowed what might be coming in the second half, a deeper Atléti and more ball for the visitors.

Dortmund certainly started the second period nrighter than the first, not that it would have been difficult. Niclas Füllkrug felt he might have deserved a penalty when he was pulled down in the box. In all honesty it was the kind of incident that would result in a free-kick outside the box, but VAR deemed it legal.

Julian Brandt came on for Dortmund at the break, and Sébastien Haller with 30 minutes of normal time left to play. The balance of play evened up but the game passed without incident. Until Samuel Lino was denied on the 75th minute. He somehow snuck into the back post area completely unmarked to meet an Atléti free-kick, but Dortmund keeper Kobel made another fine save by smothering the forwards close-range effort.

Then came the sucker punch. Dortmund broke through the middle and next thing you know the Ivorian forward Haller turned in the box and made no mistake, firing the loose ball past Jan Oblak. In a magnificent encounter Ángel Correa might have thought he was about to make the score 3-1, but Mats Hummels snuck a toe to the ball just as the Argentinian was about to pull the trigger. Seconds later, Dortmund hit the bar, it was an enthralling finish to the game after a relatively quiet second-half.

Julian Brandt, with the last touch of the game, struck the Spanish bar once again. This was truly a game of two halves, and Dortmund showed in the latter stages of the match that whilst on the front-foot, they are capable of causing real damage to this Atlético side.

Coming into the first leg in Madrid on Wednesday night, you felt the home side would need to come away with a significant home advantage. 2-0 looked on the cards and would have been an incredible result, but Dortmund’s ability to cut that lead in half is absolutely massive. The Germans will be quietly confident that they can turn a single goal deficit around.

There is still 90 minutes left of this fixture, and the prize to play for is absolutely gargantuan; a place in the European Cup semi-finals.

Julian Brandt of Borussia Dortmund hits the crossbar during the UEFA Champions League quarter-final ... [+] first leg match between Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund at Civitas Metropolitano Stadium on April 10, 2024 in Madrid, Spain.