Atletico Madrid certainly didn’t expect to leave Germany with a loss on Wednesday night after traveling to Bayer Leverkusen in Champions League Group Stage action.
After a surprising 2-1 loss to the Group D cellar-dwellers, Diego Simeone’s men have been left frustrated and they are looking for answers.
The Bundesliga side, who had lost 1-0 at the Wanda Metropolitano in the first UCL Group Stage matchup between the two teams, got revenge in a 2-1 win at their home stadium in a Wednesday night matchup that Bayer fans won’t soon forget.
After a slow first 40 minutes in which both teams demonstrated plenty of fight, but no ability to convert in front of the net, a bizarre own goal by Atletico’s Thomas Partey gave Bayer a 1-0 lead just before the break.
The Colchoneros’ night went from bad to worse when Kevin Volland found the net for the German side in the 55th minute, just ten minutes into the second half. It gave Bayer Leverkusen a 2-0 lead that Atletico was ultimately unable to dig itself out of.
Alvaro Morata rescued a goal for Atleti in extra time to bring the score to 2-1, where it would finish just moments later.
Atleti now finds itself in second place in the group with 7 points, while Bayer Leverkusen is even with Lokomotiv Moscow with 3 points at the bottom of the group standings.
