Bayer Leverkusen got the better of Atletico Madrid to win 1-0 in their Champions League last 16 first leg, with Hakan Calhanoglu scoring the winner early on in the second half. Atletico finished the game with ten men after Tiago was sent off, and face a tough task to turn the tie around.
Leverkusen were the better side from the beginning and captain Lars Bender came closest during an early onslaught, shooting narrowly wide in the seventh minute. Bender had only been passed fit for the match late on, after overcoming a knee injury.
Emir Spahic came close to scoring the opener for Leverkusen, with a long distance striker in the 25th minute. The defenders shot had well beaten Atletico 'keeper Moya, but cannoned back off the crossbar.
Atletico did manage to find their feet just before half time, with attacker Antoine Griezmann forcing Bernd Leno into a smart save. Substitute Jesus Gamez put a deflected ball in from the right hand side which the Frenchman would surely have knocked in if not for the reactions of Leno to swot the ball away.
Just before the break, Leno punched an Atleti corner out only to see midfielder Tiago hook a shot back at the goal. Leno was superb again, saving to take his side into half time at 0-0.
Atletico had played well towards the end of the first half, and came out after the interval looking to highten their intensity. However it was Leverkusen who went ahead after 57 minutes, through Hakan Calhanoglu. Karim Bellarabi used his wonderful dribbling skills to slathom around the Atleti defence, before backheeling to Calhanoglu. The Turkish playmaker took the ball in his stride, side stepping a man before hammering the ball into the roof of the net to put his side ahead.
Diego Simeone used his trump card in Fernando Torres soon after the goal, the legendary striker making his first ever Champions League appearance for his boyhood club. This didn't help however, with things going from bad to worse when Tiago was sent off for a second bookable offence with 15 minutes left.
From this point on, it seemed like Leverkusen might score a second rather than concede an equalizer with Kyriakos Papadopoulos coming close from short distance against Moya. Atleti's misery was deepened when Diego Godin was booked, meaning the centre back will miss the return leg.
Leverkusen ran out worth 1-0 winner, and will fancy their chances of causing an upset and progressing to the next round when the sides meet again in three weeks time.