The first leg had resulted in an advantage for Los Blancos, with a late Ferland Mendy strike giving them an oh so valuable away goal to take back to the Stadio Alfredo Di Stefano in Madrid. Atalanta far from being out of the tie, and with the joint most goals scored in the Serie A this season with 63, Real Madrid supporters would have been bold to assume victory prior to the game.
Since the first leg, Atalanta played 4 Serie A games, winning 3 and losing just 1. Madrid have 1 win and 2 draws since the first leg. Real have really suffered from injuries this term, not naming a full bench yet again and Belgian winger Eden Hazard picking up yet another muscle strain to continue his bad luck.
The first chance of the game fell to Robin Gosens, the German wingback latching on to a superb Muriel cross but failing to provide enough conviction on the strike to beat Courtois. A Malinovski corner was fired over the bar by centre-half Djimsiti to make for the second big chance of the night. Atalanta definitely started the game on the front foot, putting the hosts under pressure and pushing for the first goal.
Atalanta had defended quite remarkably in the first leg, seemingly blocking every Madrid attempt on goal, the one time they didn’t being so costly late on. This didn’t seem to be a different story whatsoever, with Romero throwing himself in the way of a Benzema strike with 20 minutes on the clock as Real began to slide into gear.
The obvious threat from Madrid was on the break, Atalanta’s struggle to produce the final pass almost proving to be damning as Djimsiti came up with another important block on a Vinicius Junior effort from just 8 yards out. Benzema capitalised on a huge mistake from Sportiello in the Atalanta goal, whose clearance went straight to Modric, carrying the ball into the box and playing it back to Benzema who stroked it into the bottom left corner. In a game where it was vital Atalanta got the first goal, an individual error put the tie very much in Madrid’s hands.
The second half came to a questionable close as Pessina threaded a wonderful ball into the feet of Luis Muriel, the Colombian finisher finding himself 1 on 1 with Courtois. The referee did however blow his whistle as the ball was played, ruling out the opportunity for the man with 16 Serie A goals to drag his side back into the game. Real looked strong and comfortable during the first half, Atalanta’s imprecision proving to be their downfall.
The half-time break saw Pasalic replaced by Duvan Zapata in attack who joined his fellow countryman Muriel up top. Gasperini clearly looked for goals in the second 45, Zidane happy to control the play and keep the ball.
A brilliant passing move to break out from their own half, Real Madrid found themselves in on goal with Vinicius Junior, surrounded by 4 Atalanta players as he slalomed his way into the six yard box before stroking the ball agonisingly wide of the right hand post. Not too much later on Ferland Mendy looked to replicate his strike from the first leg, however his attempt fell straight into the grateful arms of Sportiello.
Junior showed signs all night of a player willing to drive at defenders, proving all too tricky for Toloi who brought down the Brazilian just inside the Atalanta box. Step up Sergio Ramos, who tucked away the spot kick for his 101st Real Madrid goal. Prior to the penalty, Josip Ilicic replaced an injured Gosens, with the guilty Toloi was replaced at the back. Zidane wasn’t taking any chances with Ramos who had only recently returned to fitness, Eder Militao on to replace him.
Benzema started and finished the next best chance, pinging the ball wide to Vazquez, to make his way into the box before heading the subsequent cross towards goal. Sportiello saved with the rebound hitting the post from Benzema, the score remarkably staying at 2-0 on the night. Zapata found himself in on goal with only Courtois to beat, the Belgian spreading all of his 6”7 frame to make a quite brilliant save. Another good effort from the Italians in the 77th minute raised questions as to why so late on they decided to click into some sort of fluidity in attack.
A foul from Varane set up a free-kick in a very attractive position for Atalanta. A unique training ground routine saw a wall of Atalanta players run in as Murial struck, finding the top right hand corner of the goal with too much power on the strike for Courtois to handle. With 83 minutes played it was seemingly all too late. Almost instantly, substitute Asensio was played in at the back post, smashing it home after some fairly questionable goalkeeping yet again from Marcos Sportiello. Game set and match, 3-1 Real Madrid on 84 minutes.
And that’s exactly how it ended, 4-1 on aggregate with Los Blancos coasting past a poor Atalanta side into the last 8. It was all a little too late for the Italian side, who will now turn their focus to Serie A in the form of an away trip to Verona. Real will look towards the last 8 draw, but first of all return to league action away to Celta Vigo as they continue to put pressure on those above them in the table.
Full time: Real Madrid 3-1 Atalanta (4-1)
34’ Karim Benzema 83’ Luis Muriel
60’ Sergio Ramos
84’ Marcos Asensio
Elsewhere City played hosts to Borussia Monchengladbach at the Puskas Arena in Budapest, aiming to replicate their comfortable 2-0 win in the first leg. And replicate they did, matching the scoreline from last month to continue their incredible winning run as they went through 4-0 on aggregate.
Full time: Manchester City 2-0 Borussia M’Gladbach (4-0)
12’ Kevin De Bruyne
18’ Ilkay Gundogan