Alvarez sends Atletico past Leverkusen late as both sides see red

MADRID: Julian Alvarez scored a second-half brace as a 10-man Atletico Madrid came from a goal down to beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-1 at home on Tuesday, and take a major step towards a top-eight finish.

Barrios was sent off for a nasty, studs-up challenge after 23 minutes and Leverkusen took advantage as Piero Hincapie put the visitors ahead in first-half stoppage time. Buoyed on by a fiery 70,000-strong home crowd, Atletico lifted in the second, Alvarez finishing off a length-of-the-field counter to equalise after 52 minutes.

Goalscorer Hincapie picked up a second yellow with 14 minutes remaining and Atletico smelt blood, Alvarez taking advantage of some sloppy Leverkusen defending to score in the 90th minute.

“Things looked bleak,” Alvarez said after the match, adding “but by playing our game and staying humble, we got the equaliser. “Then with 10 against 10, we saw the chance to win.” The last-gasp victory sends Atletico third in the Champions League table, with the top eight sides all avoiding an extra knockout round.

The win means Atletico have already secured last 16 qualification and who travel to Red Bull Salzburg in their final match. “These are three very important points and they show us to keep believing in what we do,” Alvarez said.

German champions Leverkusen, who host lowly Sparta Prague next week, finish the night in sixth. “We didn´t close out the game maturely enough,” Leverkusen´s Jonathan Tah lamented to DAZN, saying Atletico lured his side into a “fight”.

“The stadium pushed them and lifted them high... To lose a difficult away game like that, it hurts extremely badly.” Both sides came into the match in red-hot form. Leverkusen had chalked up 12 straight victories in all competitions while Atletico had 15 wins in a row before Saturday´s surprise La Liga loss at lowly Leganes.

Pre-match, both coaches lavished praise on each other. Atletico´s Diego Simeone, who coached his side against Alonso when the Leverkusen boss was playing at Real and Bayern, lauded his opposite number for turning side into an “extraordinary team.” Alonso, who missed Real´s 2014 Champions League final win over Atletico with suspension, praised Simeone´s “intense and perfect relationship” with his club.