London:
Turkish attacking midfielder Hakan Calhanoglu scored the only goal to give Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 win over last year’s finalists Atletico Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.
Calhanoglu fired away the only goal in the 57th minute, putting the ball into the top of the net after Karim Bellarabi ‘s backheel.
Atletico midfielder Tiago was sent off for a foul on Bellarabi, his second booking, and the club had a goal ruled out, after Fernando Torres thought that he had scored with a header following a corner, but the ball had already gone out of play, the BBC reported.
The result means that the tie remains in the balance ahead of the second leg at Atletico’s Vicente Calderon on 17 March.
German side Leverkusen, who finished second to Monaco in Group C, have won just one of their past five Bundesliga matches and none of their previous seven Champions League knockout games.
Leverkusen coach Roger Schmidt said that they deserved to win, adding that one could see from the first minute that they wanted to make an impression in the Champions League, to put themselves in a good position to get through and he believes that they did that.
Schmidt claimed that his side didn’t allow Atletico many chances, adding that they had some more chances but insisted that it is important that they did not concede.
