American Midfielder Tyler Adams Scored The Goal That Put RB Leipzig Into The Champions League Semifinals

For the first time in history, an American scored a goal in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League. And thanks to Tyler Adams’ 88th minute strike, RB Leipzig picked up a 2-1 win over Spanish giants Atletico Madrid, securing a spot in the tournament’s semifinals for the first time in club history.

Leipzig and Atleti squared off in Portugal on Thursday with the winner punching their ticket to take on Paris Saint-Germain next week. It was a cagey affair — something that is oftentimes the case when Atleti plays and was exacerbated by the fact that Leipzig’s star forward Timo Werner has left the club due to his move to Chelsea — and through the first half, neither side was able to break the deadlock.

That changed early on in the second half thanks to a lovely team goal finished by Dani Olmo. After 16 passes, Leipzig’s Marcel Sabitzer chipped a ball into the compact Atleti defense. Olmo found a bit of daylight, got his head to the ball, and beat Jan Oblak.

The Spanish side kept looking for ways to break down Leipzig’s defense. They eventually broke through when Lukas Klostermann recklessly challenged João Felix and conceded a penalty. Felix, the club’s world-record signing and one of the brightest young talents on the planet, coolly stepped up and slotted his penalty past Péter Gulácsi, who guessed right but couldn’t get a hand to the ball.

A moment later, the man of the hour came on the pitch. Adams replaced Konrad Laimer in Leipzig’s midfield, giving his side fresh legs and a jolt of energy as the match entered its final chapter. His moment came in the 88th minute, when the former New York Red Bulls standout received a ball from his fullback, former NYCFC player Angeliño, and let one rip from the top of the box.

While it looked like the ball might have gone wide, it took a fortunate deflection off of Atleti’s Stefan Savic, and there was simply nothing that Oblak could do as the ball fell into the back of the net.

Atleti did everything it could in the game’s final minutes, but it could not find the equalizer. It was a gigantic moment for Adams — a 21-year-old New York native who joined Leipzig in 2019 and had never scored for the club before — and thanks to it, Leipzig is one match away from the Champions League final. All that stands in their way is French champions PSG, which came from behind with two late goals to knock off Atalanta on Thursday.