Atlético Madrid 1 v Leicester City 0
Report by Colin Murrant
There have been some amazing happenings at Leicester since Jamie Vardy’s goal in Sevilla but the re-emergence of Yohan Benalouane following Big Wes’ back injury has been as surprising as any. With his City career seemingly at the crossroads, his performances, Everton apart, have been outstanding and he was rightly hailed by many as City’s man of the match against Atlético Madrid. With Robert Huth suspended for the return on Tuesday the focus is now on Bene to marshal the centre of defence. If he succeeds, and Leicester then go through to the semi-finals, then surely his City future is assured.
The match itself was a dogged affair from City’s perspective against an excellently organised, fast running, quick-passing Atlético side. By the time I write this report, two days after the match the incidents are well discussed so no need to go into detail. The fact that there were only 3 shots on target (all for Atlético) shows how well City defended although they were pegged back in their own half for long periods.
The decisive moment was ironically in a period of partial City dominance following the first 20 minutes of chasing the ball. City ironically lost possession on the edge of the Atlético penalty area after confusion between players, the ball broke to Antoine Griezmann who raced away, was fouled outside the box by Marc Albrighton, and then despatched the controversial penalty in the 28th minute. Schmeichel this time could not repeat his heroic penalty saves in each leg against Sevilla.
The mix of chasing the ball and the heat in the stadium took its toll on City by the end and it looked as if they were settling for keeping the deficit to the single goal. Kasper Schmeichel seemed to have different ideas and was always eager to retrieve the dead ball and push for that all important, but sadly elusive, away goal.
To put City’s performance in perspective, Atlético Madrid have now kept a clean sheet in 16 of their last 18 Champions League games at home.
I was lucky enough to attend the match in 1997 at the Estadio Vicente Calderón in 1997 when City lost 2-1. The stadium itself is being used for the last time this season as Atlético move to their new 67,000 seater arena, some 20 minutes’ drive from the Calderon, for 2017/18 season. Nothing had changed much and the steep stands and narrow terracing with fixed seats made passing fellow supporters positively dangerous. The difference in the overall experience however was immense.
In 1997, the infamous bus experience and the day trip by air from East Midlands were the only options to get to the match as LCFC organised their own excursions. Now most people organise their own short holiday searching the web for flights and hotels as soon as the date of the match is known. Everyone will have their own experience but I can only relate mine. The simple fact is that many new friends have been made during the visits to these European cities, old and new friends are met with hugs and handshakes as the camaraderie reaches new highs in foreign lands.
I arrived in Madrid on Tuesday night and, after checking in at the hotel, went to the designated fan zone at the Plaza Mayor. The atmosphere was electric, something that cannot be conveyed by photographs. The humour was good and the singing got louder as the night went on. It was also clear that police presence was increasing with many armoured vehicles and police in riot gear with shields, batons and guns. The inevitable happened, some blue smoke bombs were thrown, glasses went in the air, and the police took the opportunity to charge a group of fans who scattered as batons were wielded indiscriminately at any one who got in the way. Things quietened down and the atmosphere dropped, I think this is what the police wanted but it was in my opinion an incredibly over the top way to achieve it.
Wednesday matchday was a scorcher with clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid-30s. I visited the Vicente Calderón where remaining tickets were being sold freely to Leicester fans in the home end. Throughout, I am not aware of any trouble between the two sets of supporters and there was, on the contrary, many opposing supporters in conversation with each other or sharing a drink.
A walk around this glorious city with palaces, museums and beautiful parks was a delight, probably at its best in Spring. I left the mandatory Santiago Bernabéu Stadium visit to the Thursday. Others obviously took the opportunity to drink all day. When I got to the Plaza Mayor about 6 o’clock the crowds and noise was far greater than the night before, the police presence was even more in evidence with vehicles and riot police lined up.
My friends and I decided to eat in a lane adjacent to the square. What kicked it off I have no idea, but there were a series of loud bangs which we were told were guns firing rubber bullets. Fans came running then the commotion seemed to settle down. Then the café waiters came rushing with their bills; apparently, this sort of incident is common with matches in Madrid and the waiter explained sometimes customers run at the sign of trouble and do not return to finish their meals nor pay their bills. Again, the effect was to quell the noise.
What I did see was a very few fans with Brexit banners, more were singing songs about Gibraltar. Although I cannot understand what the need is to bring politics into sport, I equally cannot understand why the police are so menacing nor why they are so indiscriminate in their actions. I can vouch for one senior couple who were hit and the man had blood pouring from his head, and several fans showing large cuts and weals from baton blows.
A 30-minute walk to the match and around the stadium was manic with thousands of supporters pouring into the area from the merging streets. The stadium itself has a motorway passing under the main stand so that free access is limited on that side meaning the other sides appear more congested.
By the time the match kicked off the sky had clouded over but temperatures were still in the high 20s and no doubt even higher at pitch level; pray for frost on Tuesday as it may be a real advantage to us. As a traditionalist, I was delighted to see City in white shorts and socks, how classy it looked.
One of the aspects of the 8.45 cet kick off time is that the match does not finish until 10.30. Add to this at least half an hour being kept in at the end, a thirty-minute walk back into town, by the time we sat down for a drink and bite it was nearly midnight. The holding back of away supporters until home supporters have dispersed is common in Iberia; again, it is frustrating and aggravates fans but it appears effective in avoiding possible after-match conflicts.
So, what about Tuesday, clearly city have a great chance to progress as they have home advantage. If Sevilla were more of a flair team, Atlético are much better organised. City have to score twice to win as did against Sevilla but they must not concede otherwise three is the minimum.
The brandishing of imaginary yellow cards by Diego Simeone and the amateur dramatics of diving players added to a pressure on the referee at the away leg, it is hoped a strong referee will be appointed for the second leg who will not be intimidated and to avoid a repeat of 1997 when City were denied three Izzett penalty appeals and the sending off of Garry Parker
The task awaits and, the Thursday morning visit to the Bernabéu visit, means that I am still dreaming of what might be ahead.
Atlético Madrid
13 Jan Oblak; 20 Torres Juanfran, 15 Stefan Savic, 2 Diego Godin, 03 Filipe Luis; 10 Yannick-Ferreira Carrasco, 14 Gabi Fernandez, 6 Koke, 8 Saul Niguez; 9 Fernando Torres, 7 Antoine Griezmann
Subs: 25 Andre Moreira, 11 Angel Correa (for Carrasco, 65min), 17 Alessio Cerci, 19 Lucas Hernandez, 22 Thomas (for Torres, 75min) 23 Nicolas Gaitan, 24 Jose Maria Gimenez
Leicester City
1 Kasper Schmeichel, 17 Danny Simpson, 6 Robert Huth, 29 Yohan Benalouane, 28 Christian Fuchs; 26 Riyad Mahrez, 4 Danny Drinkwater, 25 Wilfred Ndidi, 11 Marc Albrighton; 20 Shinji Okazaki, 9 Jamie Vardy
Subs: 21 Ron-Robert Zieler, 3 Ben Chilwell, 10 Andy King (for Okazaki, HT), 13 Daniel Amartey, 19 Islam Slimani (for Vardy, 77min), 22 Demarai Gray, 23 Leonardo Ulloa
Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden) Attendance 51,243
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation