Some good Champions League matches (despite it all)

I have already said that I dislike the new format of the Champions League, so I will not dwell into that, but just that I enjoyed this week's CL football which I had the fortune to watch in full as I am in Denmark on vacation.

Real Madrid have been lazy in the tournament and appeared to have their back against the wall as they faced Atalanta in Bergamo. Atalanta, on the other hand, are riding on a wave, as they were second in the CL league and first in Serie A before the match, at home.

But Real Madrid did what they have done so often: won 3-2 in a match where they were not the better side, but were efficient and punished mistakes. Kylian Mbappe, who has not been at his best, scored a splendid first goal early on, with Atalanta deservedly equalizing only on a penalty by Charles de Ketelaere in the last seconds of the first half. Real Madrid put more high pressure on Atalanta's defense in the second half, something that clearly made the Atalanta defenders nervous, and it was this high pressure that gave Vinicius Jr. an easy chance on a rebound that he did not let go to waste. The Nigerian striker Ademola Lookman was a threat throughout the match, and he made it 2-2, and one felt that the tide was now with Atalanta, but Jude Bellingham made it 2-3 on a quick counterattack which caught the Italian defense on a wrong foot.

The Spaniards fought for the victory as the Italians pressured, but carried the day in a good match thanks to the "BMV" (Bellingham-Mbappe-Vinicius).

The other match I watched was between the giants Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona. First half ended 0-0 with Barcelona creating more chances, but not dominating, before the second half where Hansi Flick proved the smartest with his substitutions. Raphinha brought Barcelona ahead 0-1, but barely five minutes later Dortmund was awarded a penalty on a really stupid foul by Pau Cubarsi, and Guinean striker Serhou Guirassy equalized. 

Then Flick substituted three of the most important offensive players: Dani Olmo, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha all left the pitch for Fermin Lopez, Frankie de Jong and Ferran Torres. Only five minutes later Ferran Torres scored for Barcelona in what seemed renewed dynamism on the Catalan side, but again Guirassy striked back for Dortmund to make it 2-2. Five minutes to go, and Lamine Yamal appeared with an absolutely splendid pass to Ferran Torres who did not disappoint to make it 2-3 and a victory for Barcelona, who are now second, after Liverpool, in the 36-team CL table....

 

Atalanta Super Champions

I had expected Bayer Leverkusen to do better. I think everyone had expected Leverkusen, undefeated for 51 matches, to take their first European title, and to continue the crowning of a super season. 

Maybe Xabi Alonso and his team took victory for granted; underestimated the fact that they were up against a Super Atalanta side under Gianpiero Gasperini, who had exactly read how to play the Leverkusen of records.

Because there was only really one team on the pitch. Despite Leverkusen having the ball more, they were unnerved by Atalanta's constant high pressure that forced constant mistakes and lost them the midfield to a splendid midfield where Ederson was just one of the Atalanta players who fought with heart and played a marvelous match.

But the man of the match was undoubtedly the English-Nigerian Ademola Lookman. With three goals he was a constant headache for Leverkusen. In particular his second goal was a splendid strike in between the defenders, and his third a classic and well-executed counter-attack goal (when Leverkusen was feebly trying to go forward). 

Atalanta are fully deserved champions and one must congratulate them for a fantastic match when they seemed to be against the odds.

Bayer Leverkusen can still take a double when the face 1.Kaiserslautern in the German Cup final. But Atalanta has shown that the record-bearing Laverkusen are not unbeatable...