It was a bad day for German teams in the UEFA Champions League as both Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund lost at home in the first leg of their quarterfinal ties while the last remaining English team, defending champions Leicester City lost by a solitary goal to Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon on Wednesday night.

Dortmund’s clash against Monaco, postponed by a day after explosives went off near the German team’s bus lived upto its billing as a clash of two very attacking teams, as the team from the French principality came away with a vital 2-3 win.

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Sokratis Papasthopoulos gave away a penalty to the away team as he brought down Monaco’s teenage sensation Kylian Mbappe Lottin in the box, only for Fabinho to blaze his penalty way over the bar. Minutes later, Bernardo Silva’s excellent run down the right ended with the winger picking out Thomas Lemar, whose cross was turned in by Mbappe’s thigh to give Monaco the lead.

The evening was to get much worse for Dortmund, as Sven Bender got a touch onto Andrea Raggi’s cross to put through his own net. Thomas Tuchel then brought on Christian Pulisic after the break and the German team’s play improved immeasurably as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s superb flicked was touched on by Shinji Kagawa as Ousmane Dembele’s had the easiest of tap-ins to open the home team’s account.

A mistake by Lucas Pisczek then let Mbappe in once again, who made no mistake in dispatching the ball beyond Roman Buerki to kill the tie off. Kagawa gave Dortmund the slimmest of lifelines when he brought Mathias Ginter’s cross down only to fake past a sliding Kamil Glik and slam it home as the game ended 2-3.

Bayern Munich started well in their tie against Real Madrid, Arturo Vidal’s first-half header giving Keylor Navas no chance. He could have doubled Bayern’s lead on the stroke of half-time but his penalty, awarded for a Dani Carvajal handball inside the box, went way over the bar.

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Real improved after the break as Cristiano Ronaldo expertly guided Carvajal’s cross into the bottom corner, tying things up on the night. Javi Martinez then received his marching orders for two quick yellows as Bayern were forced to play the last half-hour with 10 men.

The increased pressure paid off as Marco Asensio, brought on by Zinedine Zidane, crossed the ball into the box, only for Ronaldo to ghost into the box and poke it beyond Manuel Neuer. The match ended 2-1 with Bayern having it all to do in the second leg.

Atletico Madrid rounded off a good night for Spanish clubs as Antoine Griezmann’s penalty was the sole distinguishing factor between the two teams on the night. The Frenchman, who won the penalty himself after Marc Albrighton brought him down outside the box as replays showed later, expertly converted his spot-kick to give Atleti a crucial one-goal lead combined with a vital clean sheet.

Brief Scores:

  • Borussia Dortmund 2 (Ousmane Dembele, Shinji Kagawa) lose to AS Monaco 3 (Kylian Mbappe X 2, Sven Bender own goal)
  • Bayern Munich 1 (Arturo Vidal) lose to Real Madrid 2 (Cristiano Ronaldo X 2)
  • Atletico Madrid 1 (Antoine Griezmann penalty) beat Leicester City 0