Atletico Madrid bid farewell to the Champions League in an exciting way, and the last moments of its match against Bayer Leverkusen, Germany, were marked by moments in which the fans fluctuated between joy and disappointment.
Atletico and Madrid welcomed its German guest on Wednesday, and needed to win in order to maintain their chances of qualifying from Group B. Leverkusen advanced with an early goal signed by Moussa Diaby in the ninth minute, but Yannick Carrasco equalized for Atletico in the 29th minute.
Leverkusen returned to the lead again with a goal that came through Callum Hudson-Odoi, but Rodrigo de Paul gave Atletico a equalizer in the 50th minute.
The last minutes witnessed great excitement after Atletico Madrid got a penalty kick in the ninth minute of the added time, which was enough to continue the competition for the promotion if it was recorded.
Yannick Carrasco advanced to take the penalty kick, but he missed it after the Leverkusen goalkeeper saved the first time, before the ball bounced off the crossbar after a follow-up from the Atletico striker, so Carrasco stood in front of the ball entering the goal after a second follow-up to the rebound.
The missed penalty sparked the joy of the Porto players who were on the plane on their way back to Portugal after their 4-0 victory over Club Brugge.
Oitavos de final?
Guardem lugar para nĂłsđź’™#UCL pic.twitter.com/IoJ7oo8xVq
— FC Porto (@FCPorto) October 26, 2022
Porto got the second boarding pass from Group B, accompanied by Brugge, who secured qualification since the last round.
Brugge remained in the lead with 10 points, a point ahead of its closest rivals, Porto, the defending champion in 1987 and 2004, while Atletico Madrid ranked third with 5 points, a point ahead of bottom Leverkusen.
The struggle between Atletico and Leverkusen was limited to getting third place in the group standings in order to move to play in the European League.