Atletico Madrid Defeats RB Salzburg 2-0 to Earn UCL Knockout Round Bid

Atletico Madrid players. Photo by William Volcov/Shutterstock (10348266bp)

Despite an excellent domestic campaign in 2020-21 that has Atletico Madrid sitting at the top of La Liga, Diego Simeone’s team had struggled at times in the UEFA Champions League group stage and went into the final match of their group with their knockout stage hopes still not certified.

However, an important 2-0 road victory at RB Salzburg gave the Colchoneros the three points they needed in order to advance to the next stage of the competition.

Atletico, who finished second place in Group A behind defending champions Bayern Munich, had to at least draw in their match against a feisty Austrian opponent if they wanted to keep their Champions League dreams alive.

Simeone’s bunch did more than that, knocking in a pair of goals to defeat their opposition, which left the match feeling shorted after shooting more times and holding more possession of the ball than Atletico did.

Atletico keeper Jan Oblak was key in their victory, making two saves which easily could have ended up as goals for RB Salzburg.

The La Liga leaders took the lead in the 39th minute of the match when a Yannick Carrasco free kick headed straight into the Salzburg net by defender Mario Hermoso, putting the team at ease.

Atletico held onto their lead throughout the second half, try as Salzburg did to get back into the game. The final result was sealed when Angel Correa found an unmarked Carrasco on a counter-attack, whose shot easily beat Cican Stanković.

Atleti will move on to the knockout stage of the competition, while RB Salzburg will qualify for the knockout stage of the UEFA Europa League after finishing 3rd in Group A.