Ferland Mendy scored late on as Real Madrid beat 10-man Atalanta 1-0 in Bergamo on Wednesday to take the advantage in their Champions League round-of-16 tie.
Midfielder Remo Freuler was sent off by referee Tobias Stieler with just 17 minutes played for a foul on Mendy.
Madrid found it difficult to capitalize in the first half, though, as Isco, Luka Modric, and Vinicius Junior all shot off target. Their best chance came as Toni Kroos’ free-kick found Casemiro, whose header was well saved by keeper Pierluigi Gollini.
After the break, Modric had a shot deflected wide and Vinicius fired over the bar from close range. Madrid continued to struggle to create clear-cut opportunities before Mendy finally broke the deadlock with a long-range effort in the 87th minute.
Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said the referee ruined the match by sending off Remo Freuler early on.
“I don’t know what the result would’ve been,” Gasperini told Sky Sport Italia. “But the game was completely ruined by an incident that was judged excessively.
“I just got banned for saying something in Serie A; if I say something now then UEFA will ban me for a month. But this is football suicide. We cannot have referees who’ve never played the game and don’t know the difference between a challenge and a foul.
“We might’ve lost anyway, I am not complaining about the result, but we at least could’ve played our game. He added, “We’re satisfied, though, and we are going to Madrid to play our game.”
Zidane’s squad has been decimated by injury, both in attack and defense, and his solution to the absence of Karim Benzema was to use Isco in his place, rather than turning to another proper striker, with Mariano Diaz left on the beach.
Atalanta will fly to Bernabeu on 16th march for the second leg; with 11 men for the second leg and Real Madrid will be without the suspended Casemiro; This match is not far from over.