BEVERLY HILLS, December 01, (THEWILL) –Â The qualification of La Liga side Atletico Madrid from their Champions League group will go down the wire because Thomas Muller scored an 86th-minute penalty to give a weakened Bayern Munich a 1-1 draw at the Wanda Metropolitano in Tuesday.
With qualification from Group A already in the bag, Bayern, who had won their previous 15 games in UEFA’s flagship competition, left star striker Robert Lewandowski and charismatic keeper Manuel Neuer at home while the team travelled to Spain.
Based on Lokomotiv Moscow’s 3-1 loss at home to Salzburg earlier on, Atleti needed a win to book a second place slot with a game to spare.
Forward Angel Correa tested Bayern keeper Alexander Nubel, who was making his first appearance in the competition for Bayern, while midfielder Yannick Carrasco fired wide as the hosts made a bright start to the match.
Soon enough, Los Rojiblancos made the breakthrough. Right midfielder Marcos Llorente played a one-two on the right, carried the ball to the byline and picked out centre forward Joao Felix to net from six yards.
Teenage central attacking midfielder Jamal Musiala fired just wide for Bayern following a mazy run but Atleti still looked the more threatening. Nubel denied Felix and Llorente blazed over from a good position.
Just before the hour mark, Jan Oblak, in goal for Atleti, was called into action for the first time to for a routine save of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting’s long-range effort. Atleti, who came into the tie with five clean sheets in six prior home games, held firm at the back.
However, Bayern were persistent and pressure eventually told after Hansi Flick introduced Kingsley Coman and Muller. Bayern won a penalty after Muller was brought down in the box by the outstretched leg of Felipe for a late penalty that he guided past the despairing dive of Oblak.
The last match of most groups will be devoid of any real entertainment, but that will not be the case in Group A. Atletico and Salzburg will face off at Red Bull Arena next week in contention for second place. THEWILL believes a football spectacle awaits fans.
Before then, Atletico will be looking to make it seven consecutive La Liga wins when they host Real Valladolid on Saturday. On the same day Bayern welcome Bundesliga title challengers Leipzig to the Allianz Arena.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
