The good news for Spanish football is that not all of its four representatives in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League were defeated in the first legs. Quite how much comfort can be taken from Real Madrid’s 1-0 win against an Atalanta side that had a man sent off after 17 minutes is debatable, but Zinedine Zidane’s depleted club can regroup for the second leg and is now a firm favorite to progress to the quarterfinals.
Wednesday's game was certainly not one that will live in the glorious memory of Real Madrid. It was scratchy and disjointed, full of fouls and misplaced passes, lacking much in the way of invention or imagination.