Atletico Madrid has drawn first blood in the second leg vs Leicester City at King Power Stadium in England. Felipe Luis curled a beautiful cross into the penalty box, which was met by the head of Saul Niguez. The header was driven into the goal with pace and accuracy.
Club form over last 5 games:
Madrid: W W D W W
Bayern: D L W L W
Carlo Ancelotti and Xabi Alonso return to the Santiago Bernabeu, where they won the Champions League title together back in 2014. However, this will probably not be a happy homecoming for the pair as Real Madrid have a huge advantage over the German giants.
There’s a statistic on the Leicester City vs. Atletico Madrid chalkboard that sticks out like Marc Albrighton’s foul on Antoine Griezmann. It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise given his isolation throughout the match, culminating in a 77th minute substitution, but Jamie Vardy, according to who you choose to believe, left the pitch with a pass completion percentage of 0.
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