Kitchee met Atlético de Madrid at Hong Kong Stadium on the Wednesday night (7th August) for the BOC Life Cup. Atlético de Madrid got a 6:1 victory over Kitchee.
Atlético Madrid came out of the gates with an aggressive approach. In the 6th minute, Ángel Correa latched onto a backheel pass from João Félix and surged into the penalty area from the right, but his shot was comfortably saved by goalkeeper.
Just a minute later, Atlético Madrid broke the deadlock. João Félix, after beating his marker on the left, delivered a pinpoint cross that found Alexander Sorloth, who struck with his left foot. The ball ricocheted off the post and nestled into the net, giving Atlético Madrid an early 1:0 advantage.
By the 8th minute, Kitchee found themselves two goals down. A poor clearance by the goalkeeper in the penalty area deflected off Tan Chun Lok's foot and bounced back into a dangerous area, where Alexander Sorloth was on hand to turn and lob the ball into the net with his left foot, doubling his tally and extending Atlético Madrid's lead to 2:0.
Facing a two-goal deficit, Kitchee attempted a fightback. Luis Machado found the net in the 18th minute during a goalmouth scramble, but the effort was ruled out. Fernando Augusto and Walter Junior each had shooting opportunities but failed to hit the target, leaving Atlético Madrid with a 2:0 lead at halftime.
Both sides continued to play attacking football in the second half. In the 52nd minute, Thomas Lemar set up Rodrigo Riquelme, who drove into the penalty area and squared the ball for Carlos Martín to tap in, increasing Atlético Madrid's lead to 3:0.
Atlético Madrid added another goal in the 62nd minute. Rodrigo Riquelme's corner from the right found Carlos Martín, whose header struck the crossbar and bounced out, but Santiago Mourino was on hand to head in the rebound despite the goalkeeper's touch, making it 4:0.
Kitchee finally got on the scoreboard in the 67th minute. Sherzod Temirov received a pass from Luis Machado on the right, drove into the penalty area, and fired a right-footed shot into the net to pull one back, making it 1:4.
Atlético Madrid responded in the 71st minute. Adrián Niño collected a pass from Carlos Martín and unleashed a powerful shot into the top corner from inside the penalty area, extending the lead to 5:1.
In the 87th minute, Atlético Madrid sealed the emphatic victory. Jano evaded his marker in the penalty area and saw his left-footed shot saved by the goalkeeper, but Thomas Lemar was quick to pounce on the rebound and slot it home, securing a 6:1 triumph for Atlético Madrid over Kitchee.