Atletico Madrid head coach Diego Simeone has claimed their 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League on Tuesday will live on in the memories of spectators.
Piero Hincapie had put Leverkusen ahead in the first half after Pablo Barrios' red card for Atleti seemed to put the visitors on course for victory.
But the match turned with Julian Alvarez's equalizer in the second half. Hincapie was then sent off for a second bookable offense in the 76th minute before Atletico's Argentine striker won the match in the 90th minute.
The three points put Simeone's side in third place in the competition phase, with their last match next week against Red Bull Salzburg, who have already been eliminated.
Atletico become the first team in Champions League history to have three 90th-minute winners in a single season, having done so against RB Leipzig and Paris Saint-Germain.
“It's a match that will be remembered by the people who saw it,” Simeone said on Tuesday. “They were better in the first half. They didn't let us get the ball. One team played and the other didn't get into the game.
“What happened in the second half is no coincidence, the team has done it in other games as well. We equalized, they got the job, we felt we could win. We took the chance we had and won a emotional championship match.” Competition match. It's a great moment for the fans.”
5 – @9julianalvarez has scored five goals with @atletienglish in the current @ChampionsLeague season (seven games), equaling his single-season record in the league set last season with #ManCity (also five goals in seven games) . Scratch. pic.twitter.com/cq0yjr5lxE
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 21, 2025
Goalscorer Alvarez, meanwhile, has scored 14 goals in his last 13 home games in the Champions League for Manchester City and Atletico (11 goals, three assists), with 79% of his goals in the competition coming on home soil (11/14). ).
The Argentine acknowledged the role his teammates played in Atletico's victory and suggested their fitness and belief earned them the three points.
“[After Barrios’ red card] we knew we had to multiply ourselves by playing as a team. These are three very important points and help us to continue to believe in what we do,” Alvarez told Movistar Plus.
“I'm very happy because it wasn't easy because of everything that happened in the match: being one man down, conceding a goal, it didn't look good, but we played our game with humility.
“The equalizer came and in the final minutes we knew we could get the win if we left everything we had on the pitch.”
On the other hand, Leverkusen head coach Xabi Alonso was disappointed with the way they conceded goals and the lack of maturity he felt his side showed.
“Julian equalized out of nowhere,” said Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso. “It's not just about football, it's about maturity. We have to improve if we want to compete.”
Leverkusen lost a Champions League match in which they scored the first goal against Barcelona for the first time since September 2015, after being unbeaten for fifteen before Tuesday (W9 D6) and will be hoping for a response against Sparta Prague next Wednesday.
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