Hello this is Freddie Fenton reporting on tonight’s game week 6 match Porto vs Atletico Madrid. This is what’s at stake tonight.
Atletico Madrid will finish in this group’s Europa League place unless Bayer Leverkusen better their result.
If Atletico draw against Porto, Bayer Leverkusen will need to win against Bruges to make it into third. But, if Atletico lose, a draw will be enough to see Leverkusen playing at the European level next year.
Club Brugge will top Group B if they match or better Porto’s result – otherwise Porto finish top. Both have already qualified.
1′ min Kick off
1st minute Joao Felix takes it down the left and gets a cross in which is caught by Porto’s keeper Costa who the week before saved back-to-back penalties
2nd minute Taremi has a shot which goes way wide
5th minute GOALL for Porto Evanilson crosses in low for Taremi who taps it in
At the current state in the group Leverkusen will be heading to the Europa league whereas, Athletico dropping out in 4th
8th minute foul for Porto in own half
9th minute Portos Pepe goes down injured after a collision with Joao Felix
12th Minute save from Oblak after some great passing play from Taremi towards Galeno whose shot was saved
16th Atletico struggling to break through this hard working yet exciting Porto side
18th Minute De Paul wins foul in own half
22nd minute Atletico corner after some great build up play starting from Molina, and which ends up in Reinaldos cross being cleared
23rd Minute GOALLLLLL scored by Stephen Eustaquio who smashes it low into the bottom left corner after Galeno just gets to the ball before Savic down the left-hand side before sliding the ball across to Eustaquio. Oblak has no chance as he gets up and looks in despair at his defence
Atletico Madrid in real danger of not making the Europa league at this rate
27th Porto’s corner is caught by Oblak as he looks to launch an attack
30th Minute Athletico lose possession again and look to be really struggling to create anything in this game
35th Minute Joao Felix wins a free kick after being tripped
36th minute Oblak saves Athletico again after another mistake at the back from Savic who gets robbed by Eustaquio again who passes it to Taremi who slips it through to Otavio who tries to slide it into the bottom left corner from the right-hand side of the box
38th minute yellow card for former Liverpool man Grujic who brushes Correa in the face
41st Reinaldo yellow card with the ref playing advantage and Grujics effort is blocked for a Porto’s corner after a back heal from Evanilson setting him up on the centre of the box
45th Two additional minutes to end the half, can Athletico nick a goal before half time to keep their hopes alive for further European qualification
Half time Porto 2-0 Atletico Madrid
Things not looking great for the Spanish club at the moment with Porto in control. However, with Atletico’s last game in the champions league (2-2 with Bayer Leverkusen) they came back from 2 goals so not all hope is lost, especially with them missing an injury time penalty.
Although, they will need to change up their style with a look to move the ball quicker, with more movement from the forward players.
With Leverkusen drawing with Brugge this keeps Porto top with Leverkusen finishing in the Europa league position. However, all can change in the next 45……..
Second half begins
46th Minute Atletico look to up the tempo of the match with more direct passing
This follows with a half chance for Saul at the back post which he side foots over the bar after a high cross from the right back
47th Minute foul from Savic in a dangerous area on the left-hand side as he takes down Sanusi
The referee books Savic
50th Minute Otavio plays a through ball into the box for Taremi who strikes the ball hard but straight at Oblak and Atletico manage to slice the ball away.
52nd Minute Substitution Sanusi is helped off by his teammates as he fails to recover following Savic’s earlier challenge
OFF: Sanusi
ON: Wendell
56th Minute some great football from Porto leaves Atletico chasing shadows and making last ditch clearances
They desperately need to get hold of the game if they have any chance of making a comeback
59th minute Joao Felix gets played through down the left cuts in and shoots from at least 25 yards out and is a comfortable save from Costa
Substitution 60th minute
OFF: Saul Niguez
ON: Yannick Carrasco
OFF: Joao Felix
ON: Matheus Cunha
62nd Minute Taremi sets up Evanilson who should do better as he blazes way over the bar from just inside the box
66th Minute Atletico get back-to-back corners which both are cleared but they have Porto pinned in for the first time
67th Griezmann scores but has been disallowed for offside, a VAR check happened however the referee’s decision stands
A big brawl breaks out between De Paul and Fabio Cardoso who both receive yellow cards for squaring up together
72nd Minute another corner for Porto as tempers begin to flare with challenges flying from both teams
73rd a header from the corner by Evanilson is saved from Oblak, who then launches an attack which ends in Correa having a shot on goal which Costa pushes high into the air and then catches it.
75th Minute Carrasco gets in behind the defence and has a left footed shot from inside the box which Costa saves brilliantly with his leg
Carrasco is then called offside which is a poor decision from the official.
Still goalless in the other game in the group meaning Porto top the group and Madrid finishing bottom
80th Minute Pepe again tackles Carrasco who has done brilliantly all night long
81st Minute substitution Former West Ham prospect replaces the Brazilian
OFF: Evanilision
On: Martinez
84th Minute Cunha shoots from 30 yards out almost in desperation as the clock ticks towards the final whistle.
88th minute Substitutions
OFF: Pepe
ON: CONCEICAO
OFF: Galeno
ON: Folha
OFF: Otavio
ON: Borges
90th Minute 5 additional minutes can Atletico find any way back into this game
91st Carrasco hits a lazy shot who Costa again saves with his feet
93rd Minute a corner for Atletico
GOALLLLLL Own goal from Marcano it flicks off his head and flies in after a great corner from Carrasco
Full Time Porto 2-1 Atletico Madrid
Full time in Portugal is Porto go through as group winners after holding onto a deserved win against Atletico, who crash out with no further European competitions this season in the group stage after the other group game ended 0-0 in Germany. Porto controlled the game from the start and could be a dark horse for the rest of the tournament, definitely a team to look out for as it progresses into the later rounds. Thank you for tuning in to this live blog from today’s champions league match.
Player ratings Porto: Costa: 8
Pepe: 8
Marcano: 6
Cardoso: 7
Sanusi: 7
Otavio: 7
Grujic: 6
Eustaquio: 8
Evanilson: 6
Taremi: 8 MOTM
Galeno: 8
Atletico Madrid player ratings:
Oblak: 8
Savic: 5
Gimenez: 6
Reinaldo: 6
Molina: 5
De Paul: 5
Witsel: 6
Saul: 4
Correa: 5
Griezmann: 6
Felix: 5
