Real Madrid caresses the quarterfinals of the Champions League after beating Atalanta 1-0 on Wednesday in the first leg of the second round of the continental tournament.
A goal from the edge of Ferland Mendy (86) gave the victory to the white team, in a match in which they soon found themselves in superiority after the direct red to Remo Freuler for a foul against the white goalscorer (17).
The exclusion of the Swiss player from Atalanta changed the course of a match that had started with an intense Italian team, pressing up and trying to give speed to the game.
With one less, Atalanta sought more control against Real Madrid, who dominated the ball and to whom the game became a little more favorable with the departure of forward Duván Zapata due to injury (29).
The Colombian attacker had been together with his compatriot Luis Muriel the two most dangerous men on the Italian team.
Real Madrid, who had gone out onto the pitch with the idea of pausing the match, saw the opportunity with one more to squeeze the rival, giving more speed to their game and approaching the goal defended by Pierluigi Gollini with danger.
On the edge of the break came some of the best chances in the first half for the Whites with a long shot from Luka Modric (38) and a header from Marco Asensio too focused (40).
In stoppage time, Casemiro finished head to point, but the ball was taken out by Gollini (45 + 1), who supported his team in several arrivals of the white team.
The attack of the Madrid team accused this Wednesday of the lack of its injured offensive strut and scorer Karim Benzema.
Without the French striker, Zinedine Zidane put Mariano Díaz in the second half for Vinicius (57) to try to give his attack a bite with a pure forward.
The merengue team continued to maintain control of the game against Atalanta, who in the second half was more cautious, forming a wall behind and trying to come out in quick counterattacks.
Real Madrid, with Francisco Alarcón 'Isco' as catalyst, moved the ball from one side of the field to the other, but struggled to find the gaps in the defensive tangle set up by the local team.
The meringues were about to go ahead in a shot from Luka Modric, which a rival gave and went out licking the stick (47).
The white team continued to maintain control of the game, but despaired without finding the goal and the game seemed to be heading to its end without goals.
When it seemed that the white team would have to settle for 0-0, Mendy caught a ball in the front of the area to unleash a shoe that sneaked into the Italian goal (86).
With the goal in favor, Real Madrid tried to go for a second, while Atalanta launched desperately in search of a draw, but the white team managed to maintain the result to face the return in Madrid in a very favorable way.