Goals flew in left and right asAtletico's talented frontline tore apart a woeful Leverkusen defence. The Spanish giants take a seeminglyinsurmountable lead home to the Calderon in the second leg of this last 16 tie, but Bayer are not going down without a fight.
Leverkusen looked second best from the outset, with the away sidefashioning the first chance.Griezmann slipped in behind a wide openLeverkusen back line,but his tame effort wassaved easily by Leno. A few seconds later, Filipe Luis's cross cannoned off the bar as Henrichs miscued his clearance.
Henrichs picked up the game's first yellow card 15minutes in after his flying elbow caught Filipe Luis in a contested header. He will miss the trip to Madrid in three weeks time.
The breakthrough came 17 mins in when Saul produced a moment of pure genius. As Atletico countereddown the right, Saul collected the ball on the wing and rolled Kampl's challenge far too easily. He skipped in to the area before cutting inside on the edge of the box and curled adelicious left-footed effort in to the top corner over the out stretched arms of Leno. The Spanish side have never lost when he has scored, and tonight was no exception.
Saúl ÑÃguez is no stranger to great #UCL goals, @atletienglish ï‘�ï‘�ï‘� pic.twitter.com/Nbkc9gnaWH
A second seemed inevitable, and sure enough eightminutes later, a long ball up-field was not dealt with by Dragovic. Gameiro slipped in behind, carrying the ball from half way to the edge of the penalty area.Heheld off the challenge of Toprak before squaring to Griezmann who made no mistake from eight yards, firing in to the roof of the net.
A swift break by Atlético. Gameiro holds it up and finds Griezmann who fires his team's second in off the bar. #UCL pic.twitter.com/LAlkho3q6Q
Leverkusen did show signs of putting up a fight, with Moya being forced in to a flying save after Kampl struck a long range effort that looked bound for the top corner.
But Atletico were clearly the superior side, picking apart Bayer's porous back line. A swift counter from the Spaniards saw Griezmann's effort saved by a fantastic, reflex stop. Leverkusen were in danger of being blown away before half time.
Bayer huffed and puffed as the game progressed, desperately looking to show that they had in fact come out of the dressing room in time for kickoff.They actually dominated possession 60/40 going in to the break. But they ultimately looked like the side that has struggled mightily in the league the year, where they currently lie in eighth.
But asecond half fight back was on the cards with Bellarabi pulling a goal back when Bayer neatlyworked the ball around the edge of the area before the German swept home Henrichs' cross just three minutes after the break.
GOAL! Leverkusen 1-2 Atlético (Bellarabi 48) #UCL pic.twitter.com/8bFAYY3iCe
Atletico looked to reimpose their dominance, with Kevin Gameiro rattling a powerful strike off the bar just a minute later. Sure enough, ten minutes after Bayer looked to be still alive, Dragovic dragged downGameiroand Scottish referee William Collum pointed to the spot, although the contact appeared to be outside the area. The Frenchman picked himself up off the turf and made no mistake, hammering the spot kick right down the middle to restore Atletico's two goal lead just before the hour mark.
GOAL! Leverkusen 1-3 Atlético (Gameiro 59 (P)) #UCL pic.twitter.com/s8uWptqW42
The game then really began to open up. Bayer peppered Atletico's box with crosses.Moya looked uncomfortable all night and when Brandtwhipped a low cross in to the corridor of uncertainty, theSpanishgoalie was only able to parry the cross against his own centre-half Savic, who was left helpless as the ball cannoned in off him for an OG.
The home crowd roared asAtletico's normally stoic back line looked suddenly very human. They struggled to withstand the pressure withBayer beginning to turn the screw in the last fifteen minutes. Former Manchester United strikerChicharitocame closest with a snap shot that beat Moya, but was somehow hooked off the line by Filipe Luis.
But then, five minutes from time, substitute FernandoTorres popped up with header to surely seal the tie. Toprak's slip proved costly as Torres pulled away to the near post and glanced a header in to the far bottom corner.
GOAL! Leverkusen 2-4 Atlético (Torres 86) #UCL pic.twitter.com/wQoQPCW67w
And so concluded a fantastically entertaining night of football. Atletico look nailed on favourites to advance to the quarter finals.
On a night where you concede four goals, many might want to point fingers at the goalie. But Bernd Leno has nothing to be ashamed of. He kept Atletico from putting up a cricket score, and Bayer MUST tighten up the defence in front of him if they are to stand any chance at the Calderon in the second leg.
Bayer: Leno; Henrichs, Toprak, Dragovic, Nascimento Borges; Aranguiz, Kampl, Bellarabi (Pohjanpalo, 66'), Havertz (Volland, 56'), Brandt; JavierHernandez
Atletico: Moya; Vrasljko, Savic, Giménez, Filipe Luis; Koke, Gabi, Niguez, Carrasco (Torres 78'); Gameiro (Partey, 71'), Griezmann