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Manchester United loanee Jadon Sancho was one of Borussia Dortmund’s better players in their 2-1 Champions League quarter-final defeat against Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid.
Atletico started as the more dominant side at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium and raced to a two-goal lead within the opening 32 minutes.
Goals from Rodrigo De Paul and Samuel Lino gave the Spanish giants a commanding lead and in the driving seat of the two-legged tie.
Dortmund fought back and halved the deficit with nine minutes of normal time left on the clock when substitute Sebastien Haller got on the end of a pass from Julian Brandt to fire the ball into the back of Jan Oblak’s net.
Despite not getting a goal contribution, Sancho was the liveliest Dortmund attacker and whatever threat the Bundesliga outfit managed came from the United loanee. It’s no surprise that Sancho was the only starting forward who was not taken off by Edin Terzic.
The England international managed 85 touches of the ball during the 90 plus five added minutes he was on the pitch against Diego Simeone’s men.
He successfully found his teammates with 39 of the 49 passes he attempted, managing a pass accuracy of 80%. Two of his passes were key passes, as he tried to unlock Atletico’s stubborn and rigid defensive unit.
Sancho tried to deliver six crosses and two long balls. Two of his crosses and one long ball he pinged found their intended target. He also created one big chance.
He mustered just one shot, which missed the mark.
The 24-year-old attempted 11 dribbles, successfully completing five. Sancho engaged in 16 ground duels, emerging victorious in seven. While he faced only one aerial challenge, he was unable to secure it.
Sancho registered one clearance and two tackles.
(Stats obtained from Sofascore)
Dortmund have it all to play for in the return leg at Signal Iduna Park in front of their home support, in a week’s time. Sancho is likely to have a big say in which team proceeds to the semi-final of the continental competition.
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