Lily Perrill
FC Porto have already qualified for the Round of 16, while Atletico can at best reach the Europa League. Porto must better the result of Club Brugge who are battling it out simultaneously against Bayer Leverkusen, in order to finish top of the group, whilst Atletico require a better result than Bayer Leverkusen in order to secure their position in the Europa League after Christmas.
17:45 – Kick Off
1′ Atletico have started the stronger side taking early control of possession in their stand-out bright orange away kit. Porto in the classic blue and white stripe seem to be starting on the back foot but managing to keep out the initial chances being created by the Spaniards.
4′ Griezmann over a corner for Atletico but it’s straight at the Porto no.99 GK Diogo Costa who catches the ball easily and sets Porto off on a counter attack. Chance for Porto who get the ball right down to the penalty area but a wasteful cross by Taremi puts the ball out for an Atletico goal kick.
5′ GOAL! PORTO! It seemed that Atletico were controlling the game but Porto have begun to use the right hand side well with Pepe bringing the ball up the pitcvh, placing a lovely through ball to Evanilson who crosses for a tap in for Taremi. Porto 1-0 Atletico.
AS IT STANDS: Bayer Leverkusen through to Europa League & Porto finish top of group.
Embed from Getty Images9′ The away side are trying to come back into the game but its clear that they need to keep their composure. Despite conceding early they seem to be dominating possession – although a couple of loose passes here and there.
11′ Pepe is down injured after a collision with Joao Felix. Some extensive care being taken to make sure that the Porto right back is ok to continue the game.
12′ Around 90 seconds after the collision and Pepe is back on pitch with play resumed.
13′ CHANCE! PORTO. Taremi gets into a good position in the box and pokes it through to Goleno who is through on goal and takes on the shot but shoots the ball straight at Jan Oblak who parries the ball out for a corner to Porto. The corner amounts to nothing and Atletico end up winning a free kick the other way.
18′ Atletico are back into the game and controlling possession in the attacking third but a badly weighted pass over the defence’s heads from Griezmann puts the ball out for a Porto goalkick.
23′ More chances coming for the away side but they don’t seem to be quite able to put together a move in the penalty area; the synergy isn’t quite there yet. Porto looking threatening on the counter-attack.
24′ GOAL! PORTO! A great touch on the counter attack from Galeno who takes the ball down impeccably before accelerating impressively into the Atletico box and squares the ball to Stephen Eustaquio who is running straight onto the ball and finishes it emphatically into the bottom left corner. No chance of Oblak saving that one. Porto 2-0 Atletico.
AS IT STANDS: Bayer Leverkusen through to Europa League & Porto finish top of group.
37′ CHANCE! PORTO! The build up play for this chance was very smooth and impressive. It seemed a certain goal as they Porto attackers sliced right through the Spanish defence, but the shot from Otavio is saved by Oblak.
39′ First yellow card of the game is seen by Marko Grujic for a foul on Correa in the midfield.
42′ CHANCE! PORTO! Porto seem to be continuing to cut through the Madrid defence. Ball goes out for a Porto corner. The referee Daniele Orsato goes back to book Reinildo for a challenge earlier in the move for which he played the advantage for Porto. The subsequent corner amounts to nothing but Porto manage to keep possession and control by sending the ball back to Costa in goal.
45′ Into injury time at the end of the first half and the fourth official has indicated that there will be a minimum of 2 added minutes. It doesn’t look like Atletico are anywhere near pulling a goal back – their body language is negative and Porto are very much in control.
HALF TIME – Porto on top in this vital game meaning that Atletico would completely drop out of European competition altogether. Meanwhile in the other game in the group it’s Bayer Leverkusen 0-0 Club Brugge, so Porto will finish the group on top as it stands, whilst Leverkusen will be going through to Europa League.
This game still up in the air if you look at Atletico’s result on the weekend against Cadiz when they came from 2-0 down to get back to 2-2 before conceding a late goal to lose them the game 3-2; this game could be about to get very interesting…
Embed from Getty Images Embed from Getty ImagesSECOND HALF
46′ Early half-chance for Atletico who are clearly trying to start off the second half on the front foot.
48′ Late challenge from Stefan Savic on Zaidu who is now down injured getting some treatment. Daniele Orsato shows the yellow card to Savic.
50′ Atletico have come out charging into the second half and Porto need to keep headstrong and focused in order to deaden the spanish determination.
52′ SUBSTITUTION FOR PORTO – Zaidu did attempt to carry on playing after the strong tackle from Stefan Savic, but has gone down again and is now being replaced by Wendell; Zaidu is limping off of the pitch with the help of his teammates.
58′ Porto have managed to get through the first 10 or so minutes without conceding from the strong Atletico start to the second half. Possession is back with Porto now, although the game is certainly more evenly balanced so far this half.
59′ If it stays like this, this will be the first time that Atletico Madrid will have ever finished at the bottom of a Champions League group.
60′ CHANCE! ATLETICO! Joao Felix had the options of Griezmann and Correa to his right at the edge of the box but he decides to take on the shot, which is weak and Costa saves it easily.
61′ SUBSTITUTIONS FOR ATLETICO DE MADRID – Simeone has finally decided to switch it up by replacing Saul Niguez and Joao Felix with Yannick Carrasco and Matheus Cunha. Perhaps this will kick start a come back for Madrid…
64′ Porto are looking more likely to score a third than Atletico are to start a comeback. A couple of chances for the Portuguese side results in a corner, which is taken by Otavio to the near post and gets a deflection and out for another corner from the right hand side.
68′ OFFSIDE GOAL! Griezmann has the ball in the back of the net for Atletico but the goal has been ruled out for a foul on Galeno from De Paul in the build up. The referee Orsato blows the whistle and instantly a fight breaks out between players from the two teams, with Rodrigo De Paul and Fabio Cardoso at the centre of all of the action. Looking back at the so-called foul, it looks a rather harsh decision from Daniele Orsato; he’s massively helped out FC Porto. Alas the goal doesn’t stand
70′ Atletico don’t have anything to lose at this point so you would expect to see them pushing the boat out to try and score, but they just don’t seem to be able to string together a clear chance. Porto still on top.
75′ Since the disallowed goal it has been quite tense out on the pitch. Feels like it could be quite a spicy last 15 minutes or so.
76′ CHANCE! ATLETICO! Carrasco takes the ball down and gets a shot off from the left hand side but it is saved by Costa and the referee proceeds to blow the whistle after adjudging him to be offside.
77′ CHANCE! PORTO! Taremi manages to get into a free position with the ball inside the box but his shot is blocked by Witsel. The deflection looks a bit risky but the ball ends up behind Oblak’s net and out for another corner for Porto. Wendell takes the corner coming in from the right but it’s an easy catch for Oblak.
81′ SUBSTITUTION FOR PORTO – Evanilson has looked like he has been struggling for a while, he is replaced by Toni Martinez as we head into the final 10 minutes.
82′ Oblak has been tested a lot in this half and he seems to be keeping up with all of the saves well. He’s kept out some good shots from Taremi and Wendell – if the Spaniards lose, you definitely can’t put the blame on the Slovenian.
85′ SUBSTITUTION FOR ATLETICO – Correa is replaced by Barrios.
87′ The home crowd have started the classic ‘Ole! Ole!’ as their team close in on an emphatic win here at the Estadio del Dragao.
89′ SUBSTITUTION FOR PORTO – Goncalo Borges replaces Otavio, who has played very well today.
90′ The fourth official has indicated a minimum of 5 minutes of added time.
90′ +2 It’s all over between Bayer Leverkusen and Club Brugge and wow can you tell. The crowd in the Estadio del Dragao have just erupted. They have won their champions league group. Unless Atletico score two late goals, they’re crashing out of Europe after a very disappointing campaign.
Embed from Getty Images90’+5 GOAL! ATLETICO! Marcano scores an own goal after a corner taken by Carrasco.
Full time! Porto 2-1 Atletico de Madrid.
A brilliant performance from the in form team in Portugal. Although they didn’t start off very strong, they grew into the game through astounding counter-attacking football – something which Simeone’s side are usually quite good at defending against, but that certainly wasn’t the case today; Porto could’ve easily scored more than 2 goals if it weren’t for the strong performance from Jan Oblak in goal for the Spanish side. A massive story here in Porto as Atletico de Madrid come bottom of their Champions League group for the first time in history.
PLAYER RATINGS (MOTM; Taremi)
PORTO
Diogo Costa – 7
Pepe – 8 Fabio Cardoso – 6 Marcano – 6 Zaidu – 7 Grujic -6
Eustaquio – 8 Galeno – 8 Otavio – 8 Evanilson – 8 Taremi -9
ATLETICO DE MADRID
Oblak – 7
Savic – 6 Gimenez – 6 Reinildo – 6 Saul Niguez – 5 Witsel – 6
De Paul – 7 Molina – 6 Joao Felix – 5 Griezmann – 6 Correa – 6
