Calhanoglu lifts Leverkusen over Atletico in CL

For four straight years, Arsenal has bowed out of the Champions League in the Round of 16, and it appears it will suffer the same fate after losing 3-1 in their first leg match vs Monaco.

LEVERKUSEN, Germany — Hakan Calhanoglu’s second-half strike gave Bayer Leverkusen a 1-0 home win over 10-man Atletico Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday, leaving it all to play for in the second leg.


Watch match highlights: Arsenal 1, AS Monaco 3 || Bayer Leverkusen 1, Atletico Madrid 0


Karim Bellarabi set up Calhanoglu in the 57th minute. It looked like the Germany midfielder wasted a good chance when he opted not to shoot, but he rolled the ball back with the underside of his boot for Calhanoglu to control with his first touch and fire under the crossbar with his next.

Substitute Fernando Torres thought he’d equalized with a header from a corner in the 75th, but the ball went out of play before coming back in.

Atletico’s Tiago was dismissed in the 77th with a second yellow card for sliding in on Bellarabi.

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