Atalanta Vanquish Valencia As Tottenham Bow To Leipzig

Atalanta marked their maiden game in the Champions League knockout stages with a resounding 4-1 win over Valencia in the first leg of their last-16 tie at San Siro on Wednesday.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side dominated from the outset against their LaLiga opponents and opened the scoring after 16 minutes, Hans Hateboer claiming his first goal in the competition with a close-range finish.

Hateboer then claimed a second five minutes later, and while Denis Cheryshev pulled a goal back for Valencia, the Italian side will be supremely confident of finishing off the job in Spain in three weeks’ time.

Josip Ilicic doubled their advantage shortly before the interval with a fine strike, before Remo Freuler curled home a third from long distance in the 57th minute.

Meanwhile, Tottenham will need to deliver a special Champions League performance in Germany as they head into their last-16 second leg against RB Leipzig trailing 1-0.

After Ben Davies clumsily brought down Konrad Laimer in the penalty area, red-hot striker Timo Werner made no mistake from the spot and fired the Bundesliga side into the lead.

And ultimately Spurs, who were without several key players for the clash, were powerless to break through the resolute defence of Julian Nagelsmann”s well-organised side.