In the end, somehow, one team won but the other team didn't lose. At least that's what Diego Simeone and Craig Shakespeare will be saying after Wednesday's Champions League quarterfinal first leg between two identical teams. In the end, everyone was happy, because, in the end, Leicester City and Atletico Madrid are the same thing.
It was going to be a tall task for Leicester City to go into Vicente Calderón Stadium and come away with a victory, it will be even harder if the referee is giving away penalties.
With the referee trailing closely, Antoine Griezmann made a run down the left side when Marc Albrighton clipped the Frenchman clearly outside the box. But the referee thought otherwise and awarded Atletico a penalty.
Club form over the last five games
Bayern Munich - W L W W W
Real Madrid - D W W W W
February 22nd, 2017: The jig is up. Leicester City have escaped Sevilla with only a single-goal deficit, but the final scoreline could’ve and should’ve seen Sevilla travel to the King Power Stadium with a three or four goal advantage.
Leicester City are done and dusted — they’ve been tactically found out, the one-year wonders of Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy and a defensive backline that’s suddenly had a massive epiphany regarding their own individual shortcomings means that the Foxes are doomed.
It’s safe to say that Spain has been the most dominate footballing country over the past decade at both the club and international level. Since 2005, a team from La Liga has won the UEFA Cup/Europa League seven times and the Champions League on six occasions. Of those 13 titles won by Spanish clubs, four of those finals have pitted Spanish clubs against one another in the final.
At the international level, the Spanish national team has won two European Cups (2008, 2012) and a World Cup (2010).
UEFA Cup/Europa League
The Champions League quarterfinal draw took place on Friday in Nyon, Switzerland and has left some very entertaining matchups with the first legs taking place on the 11th-12th of April and the second legs on the 18th-19th of April:
Atletico Madrid have advanced to the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the fourth consecutive season, and for the fourth consecutive season, they look like legitimate contenders for Europe’s greatest club prize.
They have no reason to fear their potential opponents. They’re, of course, well-versed in the battles between themselves, Real Madrid and Barcelona. They finished above Bayern Munich in this season’s group stage (and beat them in the semifinals last year), and the same can be said with regards to Juventus two years ago.