Atletico Madrid battled to a 1-1 draw at VfB Stuttgart on Tuesday night despite playing the final 26 minutes with ten men, after Morten Hjulmand was shown a straight red card, according to Bundesliga.com.
Stuttgart dominated the first half and deservedly took the lead in the 36th minute when Jamie Leweling drove into the bottom corner after Angelo Stiller won the ball from Marc Pubill near the Atletico box, Bundesliga.com reports. Jan Oblak was forced into a string of first-half saves to keep the deficit at one.
Diego Simeone introduced Ademola Lookman for Jonathan David at half-time and the change paid off within two minutes of the restart, with Lookman crossing low for Julian Alvarez to sweep home the equaliser in the 47th minute. Hjulmand's dismissal for a challenge on Stiller in the 64th minute left Atletico hanging on, but Oblak and the visitors' defence held firm.
The draw took Stuttgart to seven points from three matches and up to third in the league-phase table, while Atletico remain in the mid-table pack. For Simeone's side, salvaging a point in Germany with ten men could yet prove valuable in the race for the knockout rounds, according to Sportradar's match data.
The draw preserves Stuttgart's unbeaten start to the league phase and lifts them to third in the table with seven points, while Atletico's point keeps them in the mid-table pack on four. Simeone will take heart from his side's resilience — reduced to ten men in Germany, they might easily have folded — but the sight of Hjulmand walking off will concern him ahead of the November fixtures. For Stuttgart, who forced Oblak into a string of outstanding saves, it felt like two points dropped; for Atletico, given the circumstances, it may yet prove a valuable one.