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Outnumbered only in this scene: Atalanta Berat Djimsiti (left) and Cristian Romero in a duel with Reals Casemiro
Photo:
Luca Bruno / AP
Almost 75 minutes outnumbered, but Real Madrid needed the winning goal in the first leg of the Champions League first leg in Bergamo until the closing stages.
At 1-0 (0-0) in the north of Italy, Ferland Mendy scored after a short corner to win (86th).
For Atalanta, the game was actually over after half an hour.
Remo Freuler saw the red card (18th) for a foul against the advanced Mendy on the edge of the penalty area.
In addition, the team's top scorer in the current Champions League season (30th) was injured in Duván Zapata.
Atalanta was mainly defensively disciplined.
Real came to the conclusion regularly inside or outside the penalty area, the Italians always got a foot in between.
The three most dangerous chances of the game were indicative, the shots from Isco (38th), Vinícius Júnior (39th) and Luka Modrić (48th) each went just wide of the goal with a deflection.
In the closing stages, Zidane brought in Hugo Duro (21 years old) and Arribas (19), two reserve players, to do what their established colleagues hadn't been able to do.
The Madrilenians missed half of the offensive with Karim Benzema and the long-term injuries Eden Hazard and Rodrygo.
A defender then also scored to win: Mendy got the ball from a corner in the back area and slipped it into the right corner.
It was the first serious conclusion to the goal of the Italians.
In the second leg on March 16 (9 p.m., live ticker SPIEGEL.de; Stream: DAZN), Zinédine Zidane's team had a game without conceding a goal.
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