Although Atletico Madrid beat Dortmund 2-1 in their Wednesday’s Champions League Quarter Finals match, their strongman, Antoine Griezmann is agonising over the chances they squandered.

They struck twice in a dominant first half but survived a late fightback from Borussia Dortmund before earning the win in their Champions League quarter-final first leg on Wednesday.

The Spaniards were in complete control in the first half, soaked up late pressure from the Germans, who cut the deficit with Sebastien Haller in the 81st minute, and then twice hit the woodwork.

“We won, which is the important thing,” said man-of-the-match Antoine Griezmann.

“The end of the game doesn’t matter. It’s a shame about the goal we conceded and that feeling of being behind defending.

“There were moments when we could have scored a third but the truth is that we have suffered a lot in the second half.

“But it’s a very important to win. Now we need to go there and hopefully we can win. We know we have the level to reach the semis, we have demonstrated that on the pitch,” added the France international.

Atletico, looking for their first semi-final spot in seven years, put the visitors on the backfoot with a frenetic high-pressing game and it paid off.

This was after four minutes with Dortmund keeper Gregor Kobel delaying a pass to Ian Maatsen and Rodrigo De Paul intercepting it to slot in.

Only three minutes later Kobel pulled off a sensational one-handed save to push Axel Witsel’s backheel flick over the bar but the Germans were seriously struggling to get the ball out of their own half.

Their best chance was a low show by Maatsen that Atletico keeper Jan Oblak pushed wide.

The Spanish side scored again courtesy of another defensive blunder as Samuel Lino, who will miss the return leg next week after being booked, doubled their lead in the 32nd from an Antoine Griezmann assist.

The introduction of Julian Brandt after the break instantly gave Dortmund more punch up front.

But Lino forced another superb Kobel save in the 75th front before Sebastien Haller cut the deficit in the 81st minute to improve the Germans’ odds going into next Tuesday’s return leg.

Defender Mats Hummels, making his 500th appearance for Dortmund, then kept them in the game, slid in to stop Angel Correa.

Mueez Ajao

– Luis Suarez heaped more misery on his former club Barcelona as he helped Atletico Madrid claim a 2-0 victory over the Catalans on Saturday.

– The striker contributed a goal and an assist to mount pressure on Barca coach Ronald Koeman heading into the international break.

– The former Barca man set up Thomas Lemar for the opener and the Frenchman returned the favour as Suarez sealed the victory for the reigning LaLiga champions.

Also Read: Suarez still holds Barcelona resentment for making him train alone

– Atletico move up to second place behind leaders Real Madrid while Barcelona remain ninth after back-to-back defeats in all competitions.

– Before the game, Barca president Joan Laporta made the surprise move to announce Koeman’s job at the club is safe despite a terrible run of form.

– The public backing did not improve matters on the pitch as Atletico took the lead after 23 minutes when Lemar was on the end of Suarez’s pass to score.

– The goal lead to a visible argument between Barca stalwarts Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets.

– The hosts grabbed a second on the stroke of half time with Suarez finishing off a fantastic counter attack.

– Barca improved in the second half but were unable to score and slipped to their LaLiga defeat of the season.

– Atletico are next in action against Granada after the international break on October 16 on the road. Barcelona face Valencia in their next LaLiga match on October 17 at Camp Nou.

Mueez Ajao

Atleti ‘expect to improve’ on LaLiga title – Simeone

– Diego Simeone has called on his Atletico Madrid players to improve on last season’s LaLiga title-winning performance following the return of Antoine Griezmann from Barcelona.

– Atletico pipped both Real Madrid and Barca to the title last year on a dramatic final day, in their first league championship win since 2014.

– The club have since strengthened in this summer’s transfer market, signing Griezmann on loan from Barca on deadline day, two years after he made a €120 million switch from the Wanda Metropolitano to Camp Nou, as well as midfielder Rodrigo de Paul from Udinese and Brazil forward Matheus Cunha from Hertha Berlin.

– “We expect to improve on what we did last season,” Simeone said in a news conference ahead of Atletico’s LaLiga match at Espanyol on Sunday. “We didn’t have a good Copa del Rey. We competed well in the Champions League but would like to have done much better. This year we have the Spanish Super Cup in January.

– “They’re four important competitions including the league, and we want to improve on last season’s numbers as we always look to do.”

– Simeone said he understood why fans had been angered by Griezmann’s controversial departure for Barca in 2019 but expected them to back the France international on his return.

– The 30-year-old — who is Atletico’s fifth all-time top scorer after his initial five years at the club — joined on an initial one-year loan, with an optional second, and Atletico being obliged to make the deal permanent if a set of performance targets are met.

– “Griezmann was really keen to come back to Atletico Madrid, he’s enthusiastic about returning to the team,” Simeone said. “I think Atletico Madrid fans will expect from Griezmann what they expect from us every day, the fans are very demanding and it’s normal that they demand the same from Griezmann that they demand from us.”

– Simeone denied that a squad now packed with attacking talent — Griezmann joining Luis Suarez, Joao Felix, Angel Correa, Thomas Lemar and Cunha — was the best he’d ever coached.

– “When you talk about a good or bad squad, you can answer that at the end [of the season],” he said. “At the start it’s easy to talk about names but the reality isn’t the names, it’s the players and what they deliver…

– “At River, I had Sebastian Abreu, Radamel Falcao, Alexis Sanchez… All really good forwards at the same time, when we won the league.”

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As Antoine Griezmann is set for his second debut with Atletico Madrid, he has promised to give all to reward fans.

He will be on pitch when they travel to Espanyol this weekend, after rejoining the champions from cash-strapped FC Barcelona.

Griezmann, who had joined Barca from Atletico in a 120 million euros ($141.94 million) transfer in 2019, re-signed on a loan deal after the Catalans needed to get him off their wage bill for the season.

The Frenchman knows he will have to win over the Atleti supporters again, but said he was ready to prove his worth.

“I’ll give everything for the fans, whether they’re at the ground or watching on TV. I want them to know that I’ll try and make them proud,” Griezmann said.

“We had a great relationship and it’s something I want to have again. I know that’s down to me, and I’ll give my all to ensure that happens – it’s actions rather than words.”

Atletico, along with city rivals Real Madrid, face a race against time to see if their South American contingents will arrive back and be ready to play come Sunday.

Real host Celta Vigo at 20:00 local time, while Atleti’s trip to Espanyol kicks off at 14:00.

The two Madrid sides have several players who have been involved in the extended CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying international window, with a number of them only returning to Spanish soil on Friday.

Mueez Ajao

– Antoine Griezmann back to Atletico Madrid, here we go! Agreement now completed with Barça.

– Loan deal until June 2022 with buy option for €40m, Atletico Madrid have completed the agreement with Barcelona.

– Griezmann has agreement for two years contract plus one more season option as reported today and now also confirmed.

– Incredible but true: Griezmann is back to Atléti! Shocking move of the day, completed.

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