Atletico took a first-half lead with goals by Rodrigo De
Paul and Samuel Lino and outplayed Dortmund during most of the match, but the
German team stayed alive thanks to a late goal by substitute Sébastien Haller.
Dortmund threatened in the end and twice hit the woodwork in
the final minutes.
The second leg will be played next Tuesday in Germany.
“We will be ready and hopefully we can put Atletico back in
the semifinals of the Champions League,” De Paul said. “We will give all we
have to make sure that happens, but we know that it’s going to be complicated.”
In the other quarterfinal on Wednesday, Barcelona won 3-2 at
Paris Saint-Germain in their first-leg match.
Atletico hasn’t made it to the last four since 2017, when it
lost to city rival Real Madrid. The Spanish club has won three of its last six
quarterfinals.
Dortmund, the 1997 European champion, is looking to return
to the semifinals for the first time since 2012-13, when it lost the final to
fellow German club Bayern Munich.
“We have to live with this result today,” Dortmund captain
Emre Can said. “It’s not easy to play football here because they defend very
well. There were phases where they completely overpowered us in the duels. So
we’ll take the 2-1 and everything is open for next week.”
Atletico needed only four minutes to open the scoring at the
Metropolitano Stadium, with De Paul taking advantage of a mistake by the
Dortmund defense to steal possession and find the net from inside the area.
Lino doubled the lead in the 32nd after an assist from
Antoine Griezmann, who was held scoreless again but was named the man of the
match.
“I’m not sure you can say we were superior because in the
second half they had the ball and pushed us back,” Griezmann said. “There were
moments when we could have scored a third but the truth is that we have
suffered a lot in the second half.”
Dortmund improved a bit in the second half and dominated
ball possession, but it struggled to create many scoring opportunities against
Atletico’s solid defensive system.
The hosts had a few good chances to add to its first-half
lead but failed to capitalize on them, then saw Haller — who has played few
minutes in the Champions League this season because of injury — pull Dortmund
closer with a shot from inside the area in the 81st. It was his first Champions
League goal with the German club.
“We made too many mistakes, but more important to me is the
reaction we showed,” Dortmund coach Edin Terzic said. “In the end, a draw
wouldn’t have been undeserved. Everything remains open.”
Dortmund hit the crossbar with a long-range shot by Jamie
Bynoe-Gittens in the 87th and a header by Julian Brandt deep into stoppage
time.
“When you are up 2-0 it’s normal for the other team to start
playing better,” De Paul said. “We had our chances to score more goals as well.
Any win is always positive.”
Atletico has won 29 of its last 32 home games across all
tournaments. It was Simeone’s 50th Champions League win.
The result kept Atletico unbeaten in 18 knockout-round games
at home in the Champions League — with its last defeat coming against Ajax in
the quarterfinals in 1997.
Dortmund has won only one of its last 11 away matches in the
knockout stages of the Champions League.
Mats Hummels made his 500th appearance for Dortmund.
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