Chapter 191: Champions League quarterfinals

Of course, the 2-0 score still gives Leverkusen room for imagination, football games are always full of unpredictability, maybe Leverkusen did not play well at home, but it exploded and turned the tables away from home.

This kind of drama is not unheard of in the world of football, and similar reversals abound.

As a result, the local media presented various statistics and examples to cheer on Leverkusen and catch the attention of Leverkusen fans.

In Spain, Atletico Madrid had a relaxed atmosphere, with a tough away win in Germany that boosted the morale of the whole team.

Thus, in the league, Atletico Madrid has also maintained a high level of performance.

On March 2, in the 25th round of the league, Atletico Madrid challenged Sevilla away. Both teams went to the away side to participate in European competitions in midweek, but Sevilla, which played in the Europa League, had one less day of rest, and Sevilla's own squad thickness was not as good as that of Atletico Madrid, so Atletico Madrid scored in both halves in this game and won 2-0 away! Li Qingshan and Fernando Torres scored one goal each for Atletico Madrid.

It is worth mentioning that Real Madrid was held to a draw by Villarreal at home in this round of the game, and Atletico Madrid took second place in the league by one point ahead of Real Madrid with this victory, while Barcelona's form has not declined, and they easily beat Granada 3-1 away to continue to lead the standings.

Next up is the 26th round of the league, where Atletico Madrid hosts Valencia. Atletico Madrid's first league defeat of the season was due to Valencia, and the Bats have been very good at blitzkrieg this season, often pressing high in the first fifteen minutes of the game. Facing Valencia again at home this time, Simeone sent his full squad to find a place at home.

Atletico Madrid, who had the home advantage, laid siege to Sevilla from the start, and finally after 90 minutes of fierce battle, Atletico Madrid scored 3-1 to shoot the Bat Legion. Li Qingshan finally stopped his own goal in this game, but he had two direct assists in the game, once a pass to Koke for Koke to open the scoring with no one on the edge of the penalty line, and the second time after Mandzukic came on as a substitute, Li Qingshan's header was ferried, Mandzukic easily cushioned the ball into the goal to help the team seal the win, although Valencia chased a goal back before the end of the game, but the goal had no impact on the overall situation.

In this round, Real Madrid dropped another point, and they were beaten 1-0 away at Athletic Bilbao. As a result, Real Madrid are five points behind Barcelona at the top of the table and four points behind second-placed Atletico Madrid.

The loss of points by direct competitors is always a good thing for Atletico Madrid, but Atletico Madrid, who are in the position of chasers, still dare not relax, they must always bite and Barcelona, it is unrealistic to expect Barcelona to lose points, the only hope is to do their best, and then in the direct dialogue between the two teams, beat Barcelona and regain the top spot!

On March 14, in the 27th round of La Liga, Atletico Madrid challenged Espanyol away. As this match was followed by the second leg against Bayer Leverkusen, Simeone's team made some changes.

Atletico Madrid, on the other hand, have been on a busy schedule lately, so more substitutes have been given the chance to start. Li Qingshan and Mandzukic partner in the forward line, and in the midfield position, Atletico Madrid's rotation is also very large, while the back line is relatively complete, retaining a set of main lineup backline.

The Spaniards caused Atletico Madrid a lot of trouble in this game, and even at the end of the first half, Atletico Madrid answered the dressing room with a score of one goal.

After the start of the second half, Atletico Madrid's offensive line began to exert its power, Li Qingshan was directly knocked to the ground by the Espanyol defender after taking the ball with his back in the penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty. Since the team's first penalty taker Raul Garcia and second penalty taker Koke were not on the field, Li Qingshan personally took the penalty and hit it steadily. Not long after the equaliser, Li Qingshan headed the ball into the Spaniard's goal through a corner kick opportunity, and overtook the score 2-1. It was also the scoreline at the end of the game, with Atletico Madrid claiming a hard-fought victory in Catalonia.

Their two title rivals also won against their own opponents, and the form at the top of the table remained unchanged in this round.

After this match, Atletico Madrid is on track to prepare for the Champions League.

The second leg of the Champions League quarter-finals will be played at Atletico Madrid's home turf, and their opponents, Bayer Leverkusen, will certainly not be willing to lose, so this game will not be easy for Atletico.

In order to ensure the victory, Bayer Leverkusen's manager Schmidt made changes to his starting line-up, and he lined up two central strikers in a two-striker strategy, but other than that, there were no changes in other positions, and they remained the same.

Schmidt is still hoping to use the combination of wings and centres to attack Atletico Madrid's defence and try to score as soon as possible.

But these are all things on paper, and football ultimately depends on the players' performance in the game.

It can be said that it is fanciful, but when it comes to the game, the decisive factors that affect the game are the overall state and technical strength of the players.

Bayer Leverkusen's attack was ferocious and they did score, but Simeone's Atletico Madrid are a team that has a reputation for defending on the counter-attack, and Bayer Leverkusen will have to attack with all their might, scoring at least three goals to knock out Atletico Madrid, so they can't afford to take their defense too seriously.

In this way, Atletico Madrid's counterattack also has a very comfortable space to play.

Just eight minutes into the game, Bayer Leverkusen scored from a free-kick, Son Heung-min's shot bounced off the crossbar and centre-forward Kiessling made the mark.

However, before Bayer Leverkusen could be happy, Atletico Madrid equalized, the goal was scored by Raul Garcia, and it was Griezmann who assisted him, but this goal was also due to Li Qingshan - Li Qingshan jumped high and headed it back to Griezmann, who received the ball and stuffed the ball to Raul Garcia.

Atletico Madrid's counter-attack was very skillful.

For Bayer Leverkusen, though, a 1-1 scoreline is 0-0 in their favour – now they just need two more goals. Therefore, they quickly organized a counterattack, and the overall formation pressed on a large scale.

But before they could score again, Atletico Madrid scored another goal on the counter-attack. Griezmann's speed had room to be fully exploited in this game, and after Li Qingshan won the ball, he pushed forward to let Griezmann race against the opposing defender.

When Antoine Griezmann shook off the defender with his speed and calmly scored the ball in front of the goalkeeper, Leverkusen's morale instantly fell to the bottom.

Playing away from home, trailing the opponent by three goals on aggregate, scoring three goals in the next game and not allowing the opponent to score, it's really difficult!

In the end, Atletico Madrid defeated Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 and entered the quarterfinals of the Champions League!