MILAN, Sep 29: Luis Suárez converted a stoppage-time penalty after Antoine Griezmann scored his first goal since returning to Atlético Madrid as the Spanish team fought back to beat 10-man AC Milan 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Griezmann leveled six minutes from time and Atlético was awarded a penalty that Suárez struck confidently down the middle in the seventh minute of stoppage with the last of the visitor’s 22 shots.
“I hope to get to my best level as quickly as possible,” said Griezmann, who returned to Atlético from Barcelona ”(There’s been) a lot of changes: it (the transfer) was done on the last day and it’s different tactics, a different dressing room, another way of playing.
“In the end it’s a lot of changes. Everything is different,” he continued. “I have to get used to it as quickly as possible because the coach and my teammates need me. Nights like this are going to help me to get better.”
Milan was forced to play for an hour with 10 men after midfielder Franck Kessié was sent off for a second bookable offense. That came shortly after Rafael Leão had given the Italian squad the lead in the 20th minute.
Atlético remained second in Group B, two points behind Liverpool after the English team beat Porto 5-1. Milan is last with zero points from its opening two matches.
It was Milan’s first home match in the Champions League in more than seven years – when it lost 1-0 at San Siro to coincidentally the same opponent in the round of 16.
The start to life in the Champions League couldn’t be going much better for Moldovan club Sheriff.
Sébastien Thill scored a 90th-minute winner as the newcomers stunned Real Madrid 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Tuesday.
Thill netted with a powerful shot into the top corner from the edge of the area to give Sheriff its second consecutive victory. It leads Group D with six points, three more than Madrid and five more than both Shakhtar Donetsk and Inter Milan, which drew 0-0 in Ukraine in the other group match.
Sheriff beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-0 in its opener at home, while Madrid won 1-0 at Inter.
“For us this is a dream come true to have won here,” Sheriff captain Frank Castañeda said.
Sheriff is the first club from the Moldovan league to qualify for the group stage of the Champions League, although it is based in the breakaway region of Transnistria, a self-proclaimed independent nation which isn’t recognized by any United Nations member state.
The visitors rarely threatened until opening the scoring after a breakaway in the 25th, with Jasurbek Yakhshiboev finding the far post with a firm header past Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
Benzema equalized from the penalty spot in the 65th after a controversial foul on Vinícius Júnior as he tried to get past a defender inside the area. The referee initially let play continue but awarded the penalty after checking the video review.
However, Thill still secured the victory near the end with a booming first-timer that hit the upper corner of the net. (AP)
