HT: REAL MADRID 1-0 ATALANTA

Real Madrid are ahead against Atalanta thanks to Karim Benzema’s opener which gave the hosts a 2-0 lead on aggregate.

The visitors pressed hard throughout the first half in their search for a quick goal that would have tied the aggregate.

But Gian Piero Gasperini’s men weren’t creative enough and couldn’t break the deadlock.

The Dea let themselves down after 34 minutes when goalkeeper Marco Sportiello carelessley gave the ball away at the back to Luka Modric who then passed it to an unmarked Benzema who opened the scoring with a cool finish.

Atalanta looked set to hit Los Blancos on 45 minutes when Luis Muriel found himself in front of Thibaut Courtois inside the box but the referee blew his whistle for half-time

This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk

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