Live blogging, 5:45PM, By joseph Bond
hey, my names Joseph Bond and today I’ll be reporting on a pivotal Champions league game in a group where either Club Brugge or FC Porto can finish top of the group.
On the other hand, Atletico or Bayer Leverkusen can finish with a Europa League spot.
The table below shows how close it is between the teams at the top and the teams at the bottom and is a clear indication that a lot can happen between these two games.
Last match ended 2-1 to Atletico on the 7th of September on Matchday 1, Porto look to get back at the Portuguese side.
In the past the two teams have met in European competition 11 times with the Portuguese team only winning twice.
Group B table:
1: Club Brugge 10 points
2: FC Porto: 9 points
3: Atletico Madrid: 5 points
4: Bayer Leverkusen: 4 points
1st min: it’s kickoff
5th min: GOALLLLL: Pepe Aquino plays a ball inside the Brugge defender and finds Galeno, who plays a square pass into Taremi who puts the ball into an open net, 1-0.
After the goal going in, Porto are now leaders of the group with 12 points, as the other game is a draw, Atletico are bottom of the group, with the same points and same goal difference.
10th min: Pepe Aquino is currently down injured, and the medical team are over to see the damage. His chest is currently injured after contact with Joao Felix.
Argentinian Angel Correa currently causing Porto’s defence a slight problem, this could continue to worry Porto’s defence overtime throughout this game and could end up giving Sergio Conceicao a defensive change.
13th min: Porto putting piles of pressure on, a Galeno heavy touch looks like the end of play for Porto, but the ball comes straight back to Taremi, who puts the Brazilian straight back into play, but the Slovenian Oblak makes a great save with his legs.
The Leverkusen Vs. Brugge game is still 0-0 with not many chances being created at this very moment.
After this goal Porto are still 1 point ahead at top of the group with an extra goal to their goal difference, Club brugge can still finish top though if they get a win against Leverkusen, if they get a draw though, there goal difference won’t be enough, with 3 compared to Porto’s 6.
So many errors!! This Porto squad has the Atletico team on strings, this time Jose Gimenez, the captain is making mistakes, allowing Porto too many chances at this early stage of the game.
Mehdi Taremi is balling currently for Porto in the Champions League, with five goals and two assists in his campaign so far, the best Iranian striker? will he cause problems for England going into the world cup?
36th Min: It should be 3-0!!! Taremi gets played in with a header from Galeno after he beat his man in the air. The ball drops to Taremi who runs towards goal before seeing Otavio in space, but once again, world class Oblak saves with his feet.
Embed from Getty Images39 min: yellow card for the ex-Liverpool man Grujic after slightly brushing his elbow against a Porto player.
Battle of the goalkeepers: One of the top-rated keepers in Oblak is battling against an up-and-coming Portuguese keeper in Diogo Costa, the Swiss born keeper is making waves with his shot stopping and penalty saving ability.
It’s the 43rd minute in Germany and it’s still 0-0 between the two teams, not a lot going on, but Leverkusen are growing ever so confident that they’ll still be playing European football,
Porto are still knocking on the door, but the game has slowly died down as the half time whistle is brewing, a small little incident has arised from Rodrigo De Paul and Sergio Conceiciao, but the confrontation ended quickly.
HALF TIME: Porto top of the group! Atletico have looked lifeless in this half and Porto have looked immense, but Atletico are known for coming back from two goals down, like they did against Cadiz on Saturday, despite conceding a 99th minute goal to Sobrino which made Cadiz win 3-2.
The table currently stays the same from the last update, but this could all change in the second half.
Atletico seriously need to turn it around in the second half, if they don’t start the comeback anytime soon, they’ll be out of Europe completely and will have to work on their league performances and cup performances. The Spanish team are Currently 3rd in La Liga and nine points from Real Madrid.
45th min: It’s the second half!!! let’s see if Atletico can get back into the game.
Atletico have started from the off better than the first half already, there doing well in possession and having a lot of possession in and around the Porto’s box.
47th: Yellow card for Savic, the man who got sent off against Man City is back in the books again, after a poor timed challenge on Sanusi.
50th min: Taremi chance once more!! Taremi strides into the box with his head down and all eyes on the ball, but sadly his shot is straight at Jan Oblak, opportunity missed….
52nd min: Savic challenge has paid some diligence, Sanusi is coming off and ex Leverkusen fullback, Wendall has been subbed on.
Zaidu Sanusi is a Nigerian Left back; he plays more of the offensive style of full back play. The 26-year-old was almost in tears and felt the pain as he was subbed off for the Brazilian Wendall.
It’s still 0-0 in the Leverkusen Vs Brugge game, with a yellow card for each team and a single substitution, the game is fairly even in possession, with Leverkusen having the majority of the shots.
61st min: CHANCE! Taremi is strong in possession once again after a quick break, he sees Evanilson in space, just inside the box, but he clears the bar with his shot.
Embed from Getty ImagesIt’s very end to end right now, with chance for Matheus Cunha and Evanilson once again, but both chances are half chances and are not converted.
Very end to end with over 20 minutes to play.
67th min: The balls in the net, but a possible foul? Antoine Griezmann hits the ball into the roof of the net but just before Rodrigo De Paul went into a 50/50 with Aquino, there was no intent of harm, but the linesman calls the goal off. Daniele Orsato stuck to his decision, but the decision caused some conflict resulting in two yellow cards.
72nd min: Evanilson causing some more issues, bullying his way through atletico players to make his way towards the goal, the ball almost goes into pinball mode, but Mandava clears the ball.
73rd min: It’s end to end!!! Wendall firstly whips in a corner that Evanilson headers towards goal but Oblak claims, back at the other end A Griezmann gets played in, but his finessed shot is saved by the wall Diogo Costa.
75th min: Chance… but offside. Carrasco has a chance to shoot at goal, but is deemed as offside, looking back at the replay though it seems the story is different.
The referee is struggling to keep up with the game at the moment, with lots of questionable decisions being made, loads of fouls being committed and cards not being given, 10 mins to go, but a lot can still happen.
Back to Leverkusen and there getting closer to scoring, they’ve just hit the crossbar and almost ruined Atletico’s chances of getting into the Europa league.
The current levels that Porto are playing are insane and proves that they can compete with these top teams, the talent they have is insane and the way they counterattack is world class.
81st min: Taremi gets a clear sight of goal and hits it straight at Oblak, who parms it to Otavio, who has another shot, but it’s the same outcome again.
Atletico keep creating half chances, but the ball is always ending in the hands of Diogo Costa, Griezmann has a chance of goal, but drives it straight at the keeper. The game is still at a very high pace, but the games getting closer to the end now.
Griezmann gets the ball played into him again and his first-time slide shot goes far of the near post.
it’s 0-0 for Leverkusen Vs Brugge, it looks like it’s no more European football for Atletico this season…
GOALLLLL. IN THE 94TH, Atletico have scored a goal, headed in by Savic from a corner, they could nick 3rd place???
95th min: ITS THE END OF THE GAME, ATLETICO ARE NOT GETTING EUROPA LEAGUE FOOTBALL, THEY ARE OUT!
PLAYER RATINGS:
PORTO:
TAREMI: 8 MOTM
GALENO: 7
EVANILSON: 6
GRUJIC: 5
OTAVIO: 7
EUSTAQUIO: 7
SANUSI: 6
MARCANO: 8
AQUINO: 7
COSTA: 9
CARDOSO: 6
ATLETICO MADRID:
FELIX: 3
GRIEZMANN: 5
CORREA: 5
NIGUEZ: 2
WITSEL: 6
DE PAUL: 6
MOLINA:5
MANDEVA: 4
GIMINEZ: 4
SAVIC: 5
OBLAK: 8
Summary.
WHAT A MATCH. Porto and Club Brugge are through to the next round of the champions league, Leverkusen are into the Europa league and Atletico are over and out. An end-to-end game from Porto & Atletico see Atletico fall in the end, Porto played some magnificent counter attacking football and deserved the win in the end.
