But rather than let their heads drop, the visitors showed real mental strength as they manned the trenches and defended as if their lives depended on it. Teams that have lost the first away leg of a knockout Champions League knockout game 1-0 are W7-D3-L2 in the return since 2011/12, with eight of these seeing more than two strikes. “I think everyone is very much up for the fight”.
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For all of Atletico’s dominance, they hold the slenderest of leads courtesy of Antoine Griezmann’s contentious first half penalty, awarded for a foul on the Frenchman by Marc Albrighton, despite replays showing the initial contact was outside the box.
The tie is still in the balance, but with their counter-attacking strength, Atletico will be confident of sealing their place in the last four next week in England.
Leicester City boss Craig Shakespeare says he is not surprised by Crystal Palace’s revival under Sam Allardyce.
“It really should have been 0-0”. I told the referee he got the decision wrong.
Leicester host Atletico in Tuesday’s second leg as they bid to reach the semi-finals.
He added: “We will be more aggressive in our play going forward and hopefully take a couple more chances”.
Our match pack for Saturday’s Premier League clash between Crystal Palace and Leicester City includes team news, statistics, manager quotes, odds & our prediction.
But the collective state of mind for Leicester is far better than it was following the February 22 loss at Sevilla, and Shakespeare deserves much of the credit for that. “I think it is a disappointing moment, a key moment”, Shakespeare was quoted as saying by the Guardian on Thursday. “It would be nice to see it get trialled and see how it works out”.
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The 26-year-old has scored 24 times in 44 games in all competitions for Madrid this season, and he’s also chipped in with nine assists, proving he is one of the most risky forwards in Europe right now. “We need to be competitive, we still need the points”.
