Saúl Ñíguez, Young Midfielder, Gives Atlético Madrid Edge in Semifinal

Atlético Madrid’s Saúl Ñíguez, with Koke on his back, after scoring the goal that beat Bayern Munich. Credit Sergio Perez/Reuters 

MADRID — An early goal by the youngster Saúl Ñíguez gave Atlético Madrid a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday.

Ñíguez, a 21-year-old midfielder, cleared three defenders before entering the area and hitting a low, well-placed shot into the far corner in the 11th minute at Vicente Calderón Stadium.

A draw next week in Germany would be enough for Coach Diego Simeone and Atlético to reach the final for the second time in the last three seasons.

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Coach Pep Guardiola’s Bayern, trying to reach the final for the first time since winning the title in 2013, came close to equalizing with a long-range shot by David Alaba in the 54th minute, but the ball struck the crossbar with Atlético goalkeeper Jan Oblak already beaten.

Striker Fernando Torres could have increased Atlético’s advantage in the 75th minute, but he also struck the bar after a breakaway.

“It was a fantastic night, and I’m happy for all Atlético supporters,” Torres said. “We’ve got what we wanted, which was to get the scoreline in our favor ahead of the second leg.”

Real Madrid and Manchester City drew, 0-0, in their first-leg match in England on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s draw ended an 11-game Bayern winning streak and kept the German team winless in its last eight knockout games away from home.

“We had a slow start,” Guardiola said. “We have to play at a different pace in the second leg. Their goal was brilliant, but it came from our mistake — we kept standing off him. I’m not happy with how we played. If we let them run and win fouls, it will be hard. It’s not a good result.”

Bayern, in the semifinals for a fifth straight year, has been eliminated by Spanish clubs at this stage of the 

Champions League the last two seasons: Real Madrid in 2014 and Barcelona in 2015. It was the team’s ninth loss in 13 trips to Spain.

Guardiola’s team controlled possession but was not able to break through the tight defense set up by Simeone.

Bayern was able to threaten more in the second half and created some clear scoring chances but could not capitalize on any of them. In addition to Alaba’s shot onto the crossbar, Bayern came close to scoring with a header by Javi Martínez in the 56th and a powerful shot by Arturo Vidal in the 73rd.

Both attempts required difficult saves by Oblak, who has kept a clean sheet in five straight games.

“We did very well in the second half,” Alaba said. “We created a lot of chances, but in the end it wasn’t enough.”

Atlético had also not created much when Ñíguez scored to ignite the crowd of more than 50,000 fans. He left three defenders behind before moving into the box and clearing one more and then calmly fired a left-foot shot past goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The ball struck the far post before going in.

“It was definitely the most important goal of my career,” Ñíguez said, “and probably the most beautiful one as well.”

CREDIT TO:http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/28/sports/soccer/midfielder-sal-niguez-gives-atletico-madrid-edge-in-semifinal.html?_r=0