Porto produced a convincing 2-1 victory against Atlético Madrid to make it four straight wins in the Champions League and steal top spot in Group B.
Sérgio Conceição’s side took the lead in the 5th minute when Mehdi Taremi converted from close range. Galeno was instrumental in creating the second goal for Stephen Eustáquio who found the bottom corner in the 24th minute.
Jan Oblak was one of the only bright sparks for the Spanish club, continually preventing the Dragons from running away with the contest.
Iván Marcano’s added time own goal meant the score was an unfair reflection of what was largely one sided contest. Diego Simeone’s side were second best throughout, their European ambitions coming to a premature conclusion.
PortuGOAL’s Matthew Marshall reports from Estádio do Dragão
Porto on fire in the first half
Porto raced out of the blocks and only need five minutes to take the lead. Evanilson got behind José Giménez and latched onto Pepê’s through ball, the striker squaring the ball to an unmarked Mehdi Taremi who couldn’t miss.
The Dragons went close to extending their lead in the 13th minute when Saúl Ñíguez gifted them possession in a promising position. Galeno exchanged passes with Taremi before forcing a smart save from Jan Oblak.
Atlético Madrid were not getting anywhere near Diogo Costa and found themselves 2-0 down in the 24th minute.
Galeno latched onto Zaidu Sanusi’s pass and beat Stefan Savić in a 1 on 1 duel, the pacey winger surging into the 18-yard box before cutting the ball back to Stephen Eustáquio who found the bottom corner.
Diego Simeone’s side registered their first shot on target in the 32nd minute, a weak effort from Rodrigo de Paul which was no threat for Costa.
Porto were intent on settling the contest once and for all and went close to doing just that in the 37th minute. Galeno beat Savić in another individual duel which resulted in Taremi holding the ball up and picking out Otávio who was denied by Oblak.
Atlético second best
The second half started with Savić booked for taking out Zanusi, the left-back unable to continue and replaced by Wendell.
João Félix tried his luck from distance but was cutting a frustrated figure, probably not helped by the Porto supporters relentlessly jeering him whenever he touched the ball.
It was his last involvement, the crowd saving their best for last when he was replaced by Matheus Cunha, joined by the ineffective Saúl Ñíguez who made way for Yannick Carrasco.
Evanilson wasted a glorious chance to put the result to bed in the 62nd minute, teed up by Taremi in close range before firing way over the bar with Oblak to beat.
Atlético finally started to make some inroads with Cunha’s shot deflected wide. Antoine Griezmann then slammed the ball into the roof of the net, his goal ruled out after a foul in the build up.
Diogo Costa made his first meaningful save of the game in the 74th minute after Ángel Correa had raced through a hole in Porto’s defence.
The visitors were leaving themselves exposed at the back however, Galeno firing wide after racing onto Taremi’s through ball. Oblak was then called into action twice in quick succession, saving fierce strikes from Taremi and Wendell.
Atlético finally got some joy in added time when Carrasco’s corner was turned into the net by Iván Marcano, but it was too little too late for the Spanish club who can have no complaints with the result or their exit from Europe.
Porto bounce back
Porto’s Champions League campaign got off to a terrible start, conceding late in a 2-1 loss in Madrid before being outclassed by Club Brugge in a 4-0 defeat at the Dragão.
They were too good in both games against Bayer Leverkusen before beating Brugge 4-0 in Belgium which secured a spot in the Round of 16. They kept rolling against Atlético, avenging the defeat in Madrid in some style to make it four straight wins in the competition.
The Dragons beat Atlético without first choice centre-backs Pepe, David Carmo and midfielder Mateus Uribe.
Diogo Costa continues to improve and is surely destined for a big money move abroad sooner rather than later.
Pepê got plenty of tackling practice after Carrasco replaced Ñíguez, the winger isolating the Brazilian who proved to be up to the task. Zaidu Sanusi was having another strong game before picking up an injury at the start of the second half.
Stephen Eustáquio scored in consecutive games which will help to erase some of the memory of his early red card in the 1-0 defeat against Benfica that dented their title hopes.
Otávio is getting back to his best after suffering a rib injury in Setpember.
Galeno has been tearing it up in the Champions League and been a big reason for Porto's turnaround, registering two goals and three assists in the four victories. He was influential once again and made Stefan Savić look amateurish on more than one occasion.
Mehdi Taremi was unplayable for large stretches at the Dragão, his goalscoring ability and link up play making him the most dangerous striker in Portugal by a significant margin.
Sérgio Conceição deserves a lot of credit for turning their form around and reaching the Round of 16 in style.
Taxi for João Félix
João Félix started his first match in over six weeks after coming off the bench to score two late goals in Atlético's 3-2 defeat in Cadiz on Saturday.
The former Porto junior joined rivals Benfica in 2015 before sealing a €127m switch to Atlético in 2019. The crowd clearly hadn’t forgotten his roots and were intent on making the atmosphere as unpleasant as possible every time he got the ball.
Félix had a positive start but, like many of his teammates, was unable to make a meaningful contribution. With Antoine Griezmann, Matheus Cunha and Álvaro Morata other options for Simeone up front, combined with no European football after the World Cup, he could continue to find playing time hard to come by in Madrid.
His best option could be calling his agent to try and engineer a move to a club where he can be a regular starter, get a taxi to Madrid airport and never look back.
